


The Day The Earth Stood Still

by MsDorisDaisy



Series: The Days of Our Love [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-07 11:04:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 40,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7712470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsDorisDaisy/pseuds/MsDorisDaisy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The continuation of “The Day We Met Again” picks up at Clarke and Lexa's first day at Polis University where they experience a few firsts and catch up with their core group of friends along with a spunky newcomer who happens to be Lexa's new dorm mate. Appearances by our favorites (Anya, Octavia, Monty, Harper, Jake, Abby, Gustus).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> So my plan for a multi-chapter story fell flat on its face when my muse was like “Um, nope.” I decided to continue with the three part ficlets instead, and I'm hoping you all will still enjoy what I have in store for this world. And let me tell you, I have plans. Plans, y'all. Many plans. I'm continually inspired by your comments, so please leave some for me if you feel so inclined :) Without any further ado...

“Home sweet home,” Anya teased as she shoved her sister a little further inside the room.

Lexa was carrying a box full of her favorite books, a few accessories from her desk back home, and the cactus she had gotten from Aden, and Anya followed closely behind with a few duffel bags slung over her shoulders. Moving day had finally arrived, and to say that Lexa was excited would have been an understatement. In the same breath saying that Lexa wasn't at all nervous would have been an understatement as well, and more of an outright lie, but thinking about starting a new part of her life coupled with knowing she already had a few friends among the rather large student body on campus was comforting enough to push her through the awkwardness that always seemed to go hand-in-hand with everything new that she ever attempted.

The dorm room was adequate in size, and quite honestly Lexa had been imagining something much smaller from the examples she had seen in movies and television shows. As she looked around, she saw two of everything: beds, bedside tables, desks, office chairs, and bookcases. There was another door on the far wall that most likely led into the room's private bathroom (and hopefully a closet or two since Lexa didn't see any place to store her clothes), and a moderately sized window above the desk on the left side of the room looked out over the grassy common area at the front of the building.

As Lexa surveyed her surroundings silently, she noticed that the right half of the room looked already lived-in; there was a dark blue quilt on the bed, lamps resting on the bedside table and the desk, and dozens of textbooks lining every single shelf on one of the bookcases. A few framed pictures were propped neatly atop her roommate's bedside table, and there looked to be a copy of the girl's class schedule pinned to the corkboard that hung above her desk.

“I guess this side's yours,” Anya broke the silence as she nodded to her left.

Lexa walked over to the empty desk on the left side of the room and carefully set the box she'd been holding on top of it, making sure not to jumble anything inside as she did so. Her gaze shifted back towards Anya who was rather unceremoniously dumping her duffel bags onto the floor beside her bed but couldn't find it in herself to care about the fact that all the work she'd done carefully folding all of her clothes was probably being _un_ done. Just that fact that she was here, that she was finally an adult and in college, was enough to bring a smile to her lips and a small sigh of contentment from her lungs.

“Here I thought _you'd_ be the obsessive compulsive one who'd move in before the sun rose,” Anya teased as she wandered over to the already occupied side of the dorm room.

“The sun is up, Anya,” Lexa retorted as she watched her sister studying the pictures on her roommate's bedside table, “and it's rude to snoop.”

“Your roommate looks hot,” Anya said as she continued looking, “unless this is her girlfriend in these pictures, in which case would mean her girlfriend is hot.”

“Anya, seriously,” Lexa scolded, “stop being so nosy.”

“What?” Anya said with a shrug. “It's not like I'm digging through her drawers or anything.”

Lexa sighed and turned her attention back to her box. She was busy secretly hoping that her roommate wouldn't make an appearance until after Anya left, knowing that her older sister would take any chance she could to embarrass her and didn't want to spend the first day of her first year at Polis University with a dark red blush painted on her face for the whole campus to see. It wasn't a few seconds later that Lexa was jarred from her thoughts as her father walked into the room carrying the largest and heaviest box she had packed along with two more bags, one filled with her new bedding and one holding other random non-breakable items that she couldn't fit anywhere else.

“ _No way_ ,” Anya murmured as she scanned the bookcase on her roommate's side of the room. “These are all space textbooks.”

“What? Really?” Lexa asked as her eyebrows raised along with her curiosity.

“Well, most of them are anyways,” Anya continued as she carefully plucked a large book from its spot on the shelf. “There are hoards of math and science books too.”

As much as she didn't want to invade the other girl's space and would never actually pick up one of her books like her sister just had, Lexa found herself walking over to the bookcase to get a better look for herself. As her eyes trailed over titles like 'Advanced Liquid Rocket Propulsion' and 'Orbital Mechanics II' Lexa felt herself getting more and more excited at the fact that she already had something in common with her roommate and couldn't wait to share her thoughts, opinions, and knowledge with the mystery girl.

“Some of these aren't first year books,” Lexa said as she peeked over Anya's shoulder.

“An upperclassman!” Anya exclaimed. “You are one lucky squid.”

“Don't call me that,” Lexa automatically replied through a huff of annoyance, “and why am I lucky?”

“She'll be able to get you into all the best parties,” Anya said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before she caught her father's gaze and quickly added, “not that best parties necessarily mean best alcohol or anything.”

“Mhmm,” Gustus hummed as he raised a lone eyebrow.

“So what's left to bring up?” Lexa asked lightly as she tried to change the subject.

“Just your mattress,” Gustus answered as he began walking towards the hallway, “and I could do with a little help from you two if you don't mind.”

“I'm pretty sure you're strong enough, Dad,” Anya said dismissively as she slid the textbook she'd grabbed back into place.

After delivering a sharp elbow to Anya's ribs, Lexa motioned for her to follow as the three of them trudged out of the dorm room and back down to where Gustus had parked his truck at the front of the building. It was up to the students whether they wanted to bring their own mattresses or use the one the University provided for them, but after nearly getting physically sick hearing some of the stories from Anya about why no student should use the provided mattresses if at all possible, Lexa knew she would be bringing along her own even if it meant she had to carry it all the way from home on her back to get it there.

After a bit of wrangling and grunting and a little bit of bickering, they were able to get the mattress up into Lexa's room and they all said their goodbyes just shortly thereafter. In the first bag she unpacked, at her father's strong suggestion, Lexa found a small envelope containing a prepaid gift card placed strategically on top of her mountain of pillows, blankets, and new sheets. She smiled gratefully at her father's generosity and quickly tucked the gift card into her purse so that she wouldn't lose it while she unpacked her things. And unpack she did.

Lexa spent the better part of two hours getting everything situated on her side of the room. She carefully spread out her new sage green sheets and tucked them neatly around her mattress before slipping matching pillowcases over her pillows. Her new tan comforter sprung to life as she unzipped it from its plastic storage bag and she threw it over her bed, smoothing out the subtle creases in it as she positioned it just right. After her pillows were propped against the wall at the head of the mattress, Lexa turned her attention to emptying her clothes from the duffel bags Anya had thrown on the floor.

A quick peek behind the door on the far back wall revealed a storage space for clothes before leading into a small but efficient bathroom, and Lexa was happy that she had packed on the light side when she noticed there wasn't much room for anything extra. As she carefully hung the items she normally would in her closet at home and refolded her other clothes to stack on the shelves overhead, Lexa noticed her roommate had packed quite a few clear plastic storage bins full of clothes and stuffed them two-high atop her shelves. It was actually a decent idea, and Lexa nodded to herself as if she approved.

With her clothes sorted and stored and her toiletries carefully organized in the bathroom so as to not take up too much space, all that was left for Lexa to unpack were her books and some other small items she'd decided to bring with her to make her dorm room feel just a bit more like home. She was pleased when her books only took up only about a third of the bookcase, leaving plenty of room for her many textbooks she was about to go pick up at the University library later that day, and she found herself unable to stop herself from sneaking a few more peeks over at her roommate's selection of textbooks in the process.

Being ever so diligent not to prick herself with a pointy spine sticking out from the cactus tucked away in her last box to be unpacked, Lexa lifted it gently and placed it on top of her desk where she planned to keep it as long as her roommate had no objections to it. People couldn’t be allergic to cacti, could they? Lexa scrunched her eyebrows together as she wracked her brain for the answer before shrugging lightly and reminding herself to Google it later. Just as she had her desk lamp in one hand and the cord in the other, her dorm room opened quickly to reveal a petite brunette wearing a bright red jacket and precariously balancing a stack of newly purchased textbooks in her arms.

Saying nothing aloud, Lexa put her lamp down and walked over to the girl to help her by lifting several books from the top of the giant stack in her arms.

“Thanks,” she said with an appreciative smile before walking stiffly over to her desk and setting down her stack with a thud.

Lexa’s eyes glanced down at the large metal brace that spanned over most of her roommate’s left leg but didn’t think to even mention it as she placed the books she had grabbed a bit more carefully onto the surface and swallowed nervously at the introductions that were about to be had.

“You're welcome,” Lexa finally replied and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“I'm Raven,” the girl said as she extended her hand.

“Alexandria Woods,” Lexa instinctively responded as she gave Raven's hand an appropriately firm shake.

“Nice to meet you, Alexandria,” Raven repeated with a smile. “I guess it's safe for me to assume that you're my new roommate?”

“Yes,” Lexa said with a nod, “and you can just call me Lexa.”

Raven gave her a smirk and a nod before turning her attention to the books on her desk and began sorting through them quickly. Lexa walked back to her own desk and continued emptying her last box of its contents and was pleasantly surprised when she heard Raven speak up again in a comfortable tone that sounded like they were the oldest of friends.

“First year?” Raven asked simply as she slipped one of her new books into a free slot in her bookcase.

“Yes,” Lexa replied with a small nod and pulled out a new stack of notebooks from the box before tucking them away in a desk drawer.

“What's your major?” Raven questioned.

“I haven't officially declared yet,” Lexa began hesitantly, “but I'm thinking of majoring in Astrophysics.”

“No fucking way!” Raven shouted loud enough to startle Lexa. “I'm rooming with a fellow _space geek_?!”

Lexa just gave a weak shrug as a shy smile played at the corners of her mouth, and it broke into a full blown smile by the time Raven had given her a spirited high-five before awkwardly bouncing back over to her side of the dorm room.

“I'm _so_ glad I didn't get stuck with another Philosophy major,” Raven said. “My last roommate was, and I just about wrung her neck after the twentieth time she tried to have a conversation with me about whether a piece of paper on my desk was actually a piece of paper on my desk. Needless to say I had to invest in a really good pair of noise-canceling headphones about a month into the first semester.”

Lexa smiled and laughed quietly to herself before venturing a question of her own.

“What year are you?”

“Second,” Raven answered quickly as she continued to push books into available slots in her bookcase.

“What are you studying?” Lexa followed up, mentally cringing at the fact that she sounded like she was interrogating the girl rather than asking friendly questions.

“Zero-G Mechanics,” Raven said as a proud grin spread across her face.

“Awesome,” Lexa offered with a small smile.

She didn't want to let on that she figured as much after reading a few of the titles of Raven’s textbooks and went back to unpacking and organizing the last of her things. Raven did the same and even took a bit of time to click around on her laptop, probably checking her school email which Lexa reminded herself to do, until Lexa caught a glimpse of her stooping down to open the door of a small refrigerator that was tucked underneath her desk.

“You want something?” Raven asked as she pulled out a can of soda. “I always keep Sprite in stock.”

“Um, sure,” Lexa agreed with a small nod before she took the can that was being presented towards her.

“Feel free to help yourself whenever,” Raven said as she plopped down onto her bed. “But if you do, a restock would be appreciated every once in a while.”

“Of course,” Lexa replied before moving to her own bed to relax.

“Did you sign up for an orientation tour?” Raven asked before taking a sip of her soda.

“Yes,” Lexa answered with a nod.

“Okay, so let me give you a breakdown of what they _won't_ tell you on the tour,” Raven said with a playful look in her eyes. “The frat parties on campus are epic. If you go to only one all year, go to the Push Bowl party.”

“Push Bowl?” Lexa questioned quietly as she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“It's a football game that happens about a month before finals start,” Raven explained. “For most students it's their last hurrah before they have to crack down on their studying, and they party like it's their last day on Earth.”

“I'm not really big on parties to be honest,” Lexa said before pushing her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

“There are plenty of people who go just for the view,” Raven jumped in. “Trust me, just _watching_ the drunk people at this party is worth going to it.”

Lexa nodded but offered nothing further before taking a sip of her drink, knowing full well that she wouldn't be attending such a wild party if she could help it. Especially one that happened so close to finals.

“The professors want you to believe they're all hardasses,” Raven continued, “but all the ones I’ve had are the complete opposite. Don't hesitate to contact them during their office hours if you're falling behind or feeling overwhelmed.”

Lexa gave another understanding nod to Raven and waited in silence for her roommate to continue.

“If you need a great cup of coffee, go to Grounders,” Raven told her, “and I'm totally not biased just because I work there or anything.”

“You work on campus?” Lexa heard herself asking.

“Yep,” Raven confirmed. “It’s not that glamorous, but it's actually one of the best jobs I've ever had. Until I land my dream position at NASA of course.”

Lexa heard herself chuckle and raised the cold can to her lips again. She chatted with her roommate and apparent new friend for about an hour before Lexa needed to excuse herself to report to the orientation tour she had scheduled to attend. As interesting as Raven's company had been, Lexa found herself more eager to see a particular blonde than anyone else as she battled the entire duration of the tour to keep her mind focused on what she was seeing throughout the campus and not on thoughts of Clarke Griffin.

* * *

 

“This can't be right,” Octavia said in disbelief as she looked around the tiny room, “is this right?”

The space was cramped, even _that_ was a generous word, and barely afforded any walking room between the pair of beds and desks tightly wedged up against the walls on either side of the room. There was a door opposite the one they were both hesitantly peering through, almost as if they were afraid to enter, and only a tiny sliver of sunlight seeped through the equally as tiny window placed just above the desk on the right side of the room. When their eyes finally stopped wandering, their gazes caught for a split second before Octavia opened her mouth quickly to speak. Well, more like shout.

“I call the side with the window!” She yelled as she shoved Clarke to the side and ran towards the bed she wanted to claim as her own.

“That's not fair!” Clarke argued as she followed the brunette inside and slumped her shoulders in defeat.

“Yeah, it is because I called it,” Octavia said with a shrug. “Standard calling rules apply even in college, Clarke.”

“You're such a child,” Clarke mumbled as she rolled her eyes and made her way over to the opposite side of the room.

“Should we have brought tape to divide the room in half?” Abby teased as she entered the small dorm after hearing the tail end of the girls' conversation.

“Probably,” Clarke said as she shot her best friend one of her trademark looks.

Octavia shrugged again before a wide grin stretched her lips as she made her way over to where her desk was situated and peered out the window cheerfully. Clarke rolled her eyes at her friend's unabashed excitement over the fact that she'd cheated her way to secure the better side of the room but managed to push past it as the excitement of moving day bubbled back into her chest. She couldn't help the smile that finally made an appearance on her face as she quickly stepped out of the way of her mattress being hauled into the small room and over towards her bed.

“Thanks, guys,” Clarke said sincerely as she flopped down onto her bed and bounced excitedly a few times.

“Free of charge, ma'am,” Jake said teasingly as he grabbed the brim of his hat with his thumb and index finger.

“I, on the other hand, do accept tips,” Bellamy piped up, “being a poor college student and all.”

“He says to the equally as poor college student,” Clarke joked as she gave Octavia's brother a playful shove.

“Eh, I tried,” Bellamy said with a shrug before flashing one of his famous smirks at Clarke and turning to leave the room.

“You guys are gross,” Octavia said as she rolled her eyes.

“What?” Clarke asked, thoroughly confused. “Why?”

“You flirt all the time like it's no big deal,” Octavia explained as she twirled herself around in her desk chair, “and it grosses me out.”

“That grosses _me_ out,” Clarke said as her face scrunched up in disgust.

“Plus, aren't you and Lexa officially a thing now?” Octavia asked as she wiggled her eyebrows a few times for emphasis.

“I would guess yes,” Abby chimed in as she moved a few boxes onto Clarke's desk.

“Mom,” Clarke warned sternly.

“Why, what do you know?” Octavia asked Abby as she lowered her voice an octave.

“Last week–”

“Mom,” Clarke snapped as her eyes widened.

Everyone in the room remained silent for a few beats before Abby was speaking again as if she couldn't contain herself any longer.

“Jake walked in on them making out,” the older woman quickly added.

“ **MOM**!” Clarke shrieked in embarrassment.

“What?!” Octavia exclaimed before turning her gaze towards her best friend. “And you didn't think this was something worth mentioning to me?”

“It was embarrassing,” Clarke stated, “so, no, I didn't really want to relive it.”

To Clarke's amazement and appreciation, Octavia seemed to drop the conversation after a small snicker and shake of her head, and they all went back to their tasks. Clarke dumped her bedding out of the giant trash bag it had been transported in and quickly got to work stretching a light blue sheet over the mattress to be quickly followed by a matching flat sheet, a purple blanket, and a navy blue comforter. Abby was keeping busy as she unpacked a few of Clarke's desk items, leaving the box full of clothes for her daughter to sort though, while Octavia fiddled with unboxing a new desk lamp she'd bought with Clarke the previous day.

“So was it good?” Octavia finally broke the silence.

“Please,” Clarke begged under her breath for her friend to stop while she was only partially ahead.

“Was it sloppy? Did you guys use tongue?”

“Octavia!” Clarke yelled as she turned around and gave her friend a hard whack straight to her face with her pillow.

Some other choice words were muttered that Abby really wished she hadn’t heard before Octavia lunged across the room and snatched the pillow from Clarke’s hand only to push her down onto her bed and straddle her, pillow lifted high above her head and ready to strike. Before she was able to retaliate though, Octavia’s mother walked into the room and immediately reprimanded her daughter.

“Octavia Blake!”

“Mom, she–”

“Stop torturing the poor girl,” Aurora said sharply but with an amused gleam in her eye.

“But she–”

“You heard your mom,” Clarke cut in as she threw Octavia a challenging look.

“Oh, so that’s how you want to play it,” Octavia said as she nodded slowly and lowered her head down to whisper in Clarke’s ear. “You better sleep with one eye open, Griffin.”

“Get off,” Clarke grunted as she pushed at Octavia’s stomach.

The brunette sat up and removed herself from straddling Clarke’s hips before tossing the pillow back onto Clarke’s bed but not before delivering a warning glare to her best friend who just shrugged it off. Jake and Bellamy returned to the room shortly thereafter with Octavia’s mattress and plopped it down noisily onto the empty bed frame and took a minute to catch their breath before everyone was making their way back down to gather the last of their things. It was nearing two o’clock in the afternoon, and Clarke realized after not-so-subtly checking the clock on her phone that she was running out of time to unpack before the orientation tour she and Octavia had signed up for started.

“Well, I guess we should leave you girls to it,” Abby said as she took a step towards Clarke and wrapped her up in a strong embrace. “Don’t get into too much trouble.”

“I won’t,” Clarke assured her mother as she returned the hug.

“And don’t have too much fun,” Abby continued as she kept her grip on Clarke firmly in place. “I mean, you can have fun... just don’t have too much fun... if you know what I mean.”

“Understood,” Clarke said as she rolled her eyes. “This dorm room will be a fun-free zone.”

With one last lingering squeeze, Abby released Clarke and nodded once before placing a light kiss on her forehead. It was Jake’s turn to pull his daughter in for a hug, and Clarke felt her eyes close as she wrapped her arms around his waist and breathed in his scent for what would be the last time for the next few months before they were separating and Jake was placing his own kiss on her cheek. Octavia got a similar send-off from her own mother and older brother, and soon Clarke and Octavia were standing alone together in the middle of their dorm room sharing smirks and practically reading each other’s thoughts.

_Let the fun begin._

Clarke went to work immediately unpacking her clothes and organizing them on her side of the closet at the back of the room. It was really the only decent sized thing in the entire room, and Clarke was appreciative of that fact as she pulled out stack after stack of clothing before wedging them tightly along the upper shelves until she couldn’t fit any more in. She pulled out the new pack of plastic hangers she had purchased with Octavia during their last minute shopping trip the day prior and hung them from the long bar, pushing about half of them over to Octavia’s side for her to use. It wasn’t a few minutes after Clarke had finished hanging the rest of her clothes that she turned around and headed over towards her desk to begin unpacking the rest of her things.

“What time is that orientation thing?” Octavia asked as she paused momentarily from rummaging through one of her boxes.

“Three o’clock,” Clarke answered simply, “and I need to stop by the library afterwards to get my books.”

“Do you think there's a party going on tonight somewhere?” Octavia asked as she continued taking a few more of her items from the box.

“We're in college, O,” Clarke said as she raised her eyebrows, “I think it's safe to assume there's a party going on somewhere every night.”

“Please help me not to fail out of every single one of my classes,” Octavia finally said after calming herself down at the excitement she felt knowing there were endless amounts of parties to be experienced throughout the year.

“I'm not here to babysit you,” Clarke stated as she tucked her sketchbook into one of her desk drawers, “but I'll give you a kick in the ass here and there.”

“Thanks,” Octavia said through a wide grin, at which Clarke just chuckled.

After another five minutes of pulling things out of the box she was working on, Clarke was finally able to see the bottom and sighed quietly to herself as she realized her unpacking was almost finished. A shy smile flitted across her lips as she grabbed the paintbrush set she'd received as a belated birthday gift from Lexa and placed it gently into the top drawer of her desk.

Clarke had replayed the last moment she’d had with Lexa before the craziness of preparations for packing up and moving away took a hold of each of their schedules, and it wasn’t since the night Lexa surprised her with the brush set that they had seen each other. A few texts here and there were exchanged, but Clarke was as eager as she'd ever been to see the other girl again. To hug her. To see her smile. To possibly even kiss her again. A faint vibrating noise brought Clarke out of her thoughts as she watched Octavia pick up her phone, read whatever it was that had notified her, before the brunette tossed her phone onto her mattress with a sigh.

“Lincoln?” Clarke asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Octavia said after clearing her throat and attempting to act nonchalant.

“Is he asking about your first day?” Clarke pressed on.

“Yeah,” Octavia echoed her last reply.

“I thought you said you wanted this,” Clarke said as she turned fully towards her friend.

“I did,” Octavia began with a small sigh, “I do.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ in there somewhere,” Clarke guessed aloud as she sank down onto Octavia’s mattress and leaned back on the palms of her hands to look up at her.

“It’s just hard when he keeps talking to me like nothing’s changed,” Octavia pointed out as she gestured towards her phone.

“What really has changed though?” Clarke asked as she quirked a lone eyebrow.

“We’re not dating anymore?” Octavia replied like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

“Well, yeah,” Clarke started with a small shrug, “but it’s not like because you guys decided to take a break from your relationship that you have to take a break from being friends too. You’d expect me to check in with you on your first day of college if we weren’t on the same campus, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Octavia agreed with a nod. “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Clarke said through a smirk and a cocky shoulder shrug.

“And also very full of yourself,” Octavia teased as she rolled her eyes.

The pair continued chatting lightly with each other as they finished unpacking all of their things with only minutes to spare before they absolutely had to start making their way to the campus square where they were instructed to meet their orientation officer for their orientation tour. It was all so official and something that Clarke would have likely found quite cheesy under normal circumstances, but she couldn't help but soak up all the nuances that college life had to offer no matter how stereotypical or cringe-worthy they were to her.

With their orientation packets in hand, Clarke and Octavia made their way through their dormitory hallways crowded with excited students and nervous parents until they were finally able to feel the sun on their cheeks and the wind in their hair. It was only about a five minute walk to the square, which in all honestly felt more like thirty seconds as the familiar chattering between the two best friends kept pace with their feet, and they fell quickly into line with the other group of Freshmen who had signed up for their tours for that particular time as well.

“Good afternoon,” a cheerful voice carried over the crowd, “and welcome to Polis University!”

Clarke lifted her eyebrows just slightly when she saw the woman who was addressing the crowd and was surprised that such a strong voice was coming from such a petite frame. She was clearly a student herself, probably close to her last year of studies, and was wearing a dark gray Polis University t-shirt similar to all of the other student volunteers were sporting around campus that day. Her skin was tanned and her hair was dark, not to mention long and incredibly silky, and the soft layers trimmed into it framed her face perfectly as it draped effortlessly over her shoulders.

“... majoring in English, so if anyone needs some cheesy Shakespearian pickup lines then I'm your girl.”

Clarke chuckled along with the rest of the students, not having heard the tour guide's entire statement but understanding the gist of it anyways. The guide explained that the tour would take about an hour with an additional thirty minutes at the end for a question-and-answer time that wasn't mandatory to stay around for but was recommended nevertheless. As she began explaining the history of how the University came to be, how long it took to build, how it had expanded over the decades, Clarke rather surprisingly found herself riveted. She'd had her distractions on guided tours in the past, but the way this girl presented the script Clarke was sure she had perfected long ago was intriguing and really quite impressive.

Octavia, on the other hand, was distracted almost immediately, and Clarke could tell by the way she noticed the brunette’s face tip up towards the clouds every few seconds that she wasn't retaining much of anything their guide was telling the group. Clarke huffed out a sigh as she heard her best friend start clicking her gum between her lips and nudged her elbow into Octavia’s ribs, warning her with an ‘either pay attention or stop being so annoying’ look. Octavia made sure Clarke could see her roll her eyes but was soon caught up in what she thought was a flirtatious staring contest with a fellow student who had taken a position across from the two girls just as the entire group crowded around the front doors leading into the main lecture hall.

“Hot guy, ten o’clock,” Octavia whispered into Clarke’s ear as she scratched her cheek so as not to be obvious.

Clarke’s gaze landed on the person she figured Octavia was talking about and silently agreed with her friend’s assessment. He was practically the definition of tall, dark, and handsome and his dark brown eyes and long eyelashes certainly did him a few extra favors as well. He was dressed impeccably, and Clarke was almost surprised that she hadn’t noticed him earlier. Although she probably thought she was being subtle, Octavia was showing all the signs Clarke was more than familiar with and knew immediately that her best friend was hung up on the stranger.

“Let’s talk to him after the tour,” Octavia whispered.

“You talk to him,” Clarke countered as she whispered back.

“Come on, you can be my wing-woman,” Octavia pleaded.

“Wing-woman?” Clarke questioned as she turned herself towards Octavia. “Is that even a thing?”

“There’s such a thing as a wing- _man_ , so why wouldn’t there be such a thing as a wing- _woman_?” Octavia argued as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “How sexist of you, Clarke.”

Just as Clarke was about to defend herself, the tour guide cleared her throat loudly as if to get the attention of the whispering girls before smoothly carrying on with her presentation. Clarke shot Octavia a glare, and Octavia just shrugged not long before her eyes were back on the attractive student and a smirk had sprung to her lips. They traded a few glances during the remainder of the hour but as quickly as she’d noticed him for the first time, Octavia lost sight of him the moment the tour had concluded.

Clarke rolled her eyes and sighed when Octavia said she was going to try and find him with or without a wing-woman and finally left by herself after Clarke had stood her ground that she needed to stop by the library to buy her textbooks. The following day was a Sunday, which Clarke knew was not a day that the bookstore was open, and the Monday directly after that was their first day of classes and there was no way she was going to show up on her first day of classes without her books. So she just watched as Octavia disappeared into the crowd of students before turning to walk the opposite way towards the library.

* * *

 

The library building itself was a sight to be seen. The interior boasted impressive domed ceilings that seemed to curve up for miles set apart by dark wooden beams intricately crafted to weave throughout one another, seamlessly transitioning into massive columns that bracketed every corner of each of the rooms. Clarke noticed signs hanging overhead directing her towards the bookstore but decided to explore a little further into the grand room as she began weaving through the endless rows of books on every side of her.

She walked by more study rooms than she could count and knew there were probably even more along the back of the building, and she even caught glimpse of a few quiet nooks with oversized couches flanked by side tables and lamps for students who wanted a bit more comfort while they studied. As Clarke rounded a final corner at the far left of the library, her gaze landed on a familiar face that was buried into a book that looked to be upwards of three feet long when fully open. She didn’t even attempt to stop the small smile stretching against her lips or the delicious way her heart flipped in her chest at the sight.

Lexa hunched over the book as if it was the most fascinating thing she'd ever laid her eyes upon, and her body was carefully wedged in the corner of two solid wooden bookcases as she sat on the floor with what appeared to be her own freshly purchased textbooks in a neat stack beside her. Clarke’s small smile turned into one of endearment, and she stood silently another few moments as she watched delicate fingertips trail along one page and then the other. Deciding that she couldn't stand another second without hearing the other girl's voice, Clarke finally used hers to catch Lexa's attention.

“Hey, Lexa,” Clarke said quietly, so as to not startle her or speak too loudly for the sake of the other students in the library as well.

Lexa's head snapped up, her mouth agape, and stared at Clarke for a split second before clambering to her feet and closing her giant book. The cover boasted a brightly colored image of the Milky Way galaxy, and Clarke felt herself smile even wider. A space book. Of course.

“Clarke, um...” Lexa began as she fidgeted with her book, “hello.”

_You're so adorable._

Clarke almost said the words aloud but thought better of it, and she bit the inside of her lip instead as she closed the distance between her and the awkward girl. Lexa watched as Clarke settled her shoulder against a bookcase a good couple of feet in front of her and quickly diverted her gaze down to the floor when she caught herself staring at Clarke’s lips for probably longer than she should have. Clarke didn’t seem to mind however and continued on with their conversation.

“Did you have your orientation tour already?” Clarke asked.

“Yeah, a while ago,” Lexa answered immediately as she looked at the large clock hanging on the wall in front of her and then back down to the book in her hands. “I... got distracted.”

“You? Distracted by enormous books about space?” Clarke teased lightly. “I never would have guessed.”

Lexa cracked her own shy smile and felt her cheeks flush so subtly she was sure Clarke wouldn’t be able to notice and found herself staring back into sparkling blue eyes just a moment later. It was a color she wouldn’t mind drowning in every day for the rest of her life.

“More importantly, why were you sitting on the floor?” Clarke asked, suddenly having remembered she stumbled upon the girl that way in the first place. “There’s like a hundred study rooms to choose from or even couches if you planned to camp out for a while.”

“I just... I found the book here...” Lexa began hesitantly as she pointed at the shelf at her eye level, “and I just thought I’d flip through it before heading back to my room.”

Clarke’s heart almost exploded at the total nerdiness of Lexa’s confession after realizing that the brunette had probably seen the book and became so entranced with it that she simply sat down right where she was to continue looking through it, completely forgetting the fact that she could have brought it over to a couch or even checked it out for the day. She just barely resisted the urge to lean over and plant a kiss on the adorable nerd’s lips and decided instead to just carry on with their small talk.

“So how’s your dorm?” Clarke wanted to know. “Did you meet your roommate yet?”

“It’s nice, and I did,” Lexa answered both questions along with an affirmative nod. “Her name is Raven, and she’s in her second year studying Zero-G Mechanics.”

“Zero-G,” Clarke repeated as she thought for a few seconds. “Space major?”

_For lack of a better description._

“Yes,” she answered instead.

“That’s awesome!” Clarke heard herself exclaim, at which Lexa just smiled. “I mean, it’s awesome until I can’t get you two to stop talking about planets and stars for hours on end and it starts making me jealous...”

Clarke’s chest tightened at the honest confession, knowing it really was the truth but hoping it hadn’t made her sound insecure.

“I can talk about stars with you too, Clarke,” Lexa said immediately as she leaned forward just enough to catch a whiff of Clarke’s now familiar vanilla scent.

“Even if you have to dumb it down for me?” Clarke asked with a playful smirk on her lips.

“I won’t have to do that,” Lexa replied as she glanced down at Clarke’s mouth before her own was turning up with a matching smirk. “You’re very intelligent.”

“You haven’t had to try and teach me math yet,” Clarke quipped.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Clarke,” Lexa replied quietly. “You told me that once, and now it seems you’re the one doing it.”

Clarke balked at the girl’s kind words but as realization dawned on her that Lexa was right, she blinked a few times and nodded her head in agreement. Just as she was about to speak again, Clarke’s phone vibrated in her pocket so she reached down to fish it out and see what had just come through. She knew it was most likely something from Octavia, since the girl was right when she always joked that despite her numerous friends the only people to ever text Clarke were her and Abby, but was still curious.

**Baby Blake: Get ready to party gurl.**

**Baby Blake: Just got the deets on the best ones to hit up.**

**Baby Blake: Invite whoever and be ready by eight.**

“Are you up for a party tonight?” Clarke asked as she looked up at Lexa who was just pulling her hands back from fitting her huge book back into its proper place on the bookshelf.

“A party?” Lexa echoed. “Um... where?”

“I’m not sure,” Clarke said with a shrug. “Octavia just texted me that she found out about a couple going on, but all she told me was to be ready by eight.”

Lexa felt torn. She wanted nothing more than to spend time with Clarke now that they were finally at University together with nothing standing in their way from hanging out as much as they wanted, but Lexa would be lying if she didn’t admit that she was looking forward to her first night on campus to be one of relaxation and peace. Going to her first college party wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time, but if she was being honest with herself she knew there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do for Clarke Griffin.

“Sure,” she finally replied with a small nod.

“Yeah?” Clarke asked with a widening smile plastered across her face.

“Yeah,” Lexa confirmed through a much smaller smile of her own.

“Okay, I need to run and get my books,” Clarke said as she pushed herself from where she’d been leaning up against the sturdy bookcase, “but I’ll text you later about where we should meet.”

“Okay,” Lexa answered before bending down to pick up her own stack of textbooks and cradled them in her arms as best she could.

Before she could react, Lexa felt the soft press of Clarke’s lips against her cheek and the ghosting touch of a hand on her forearm before their gazes caught for just a split second as Clarke pulled away and smiled bashfully. She heard Clarke breathe out a quiet goodbye, which Lexa was incapable of reciprocating since all she could focus on was the tingling sensation Clarke left with her kiss, and watched as the blonde disappeared behind a corner just a few moments later. The anxiety bubbling in her chest at the impending party calmed slightly, even just for the time being, as Lexa delighted in thoughts of being with Clarke for the remainder of the night and she left the library with a smile on her face and her head in the clouds.

* * *

 

**MsGriffster: Meet me at my room? B2 R21**

**MsGriffster: I’ll give you a quick tour!**

**Lexa Woods: Okay, see you then.**

Lexa had about thirty minutes left to pull herself together before she headed over to meet Clarke at her dorm room, and she probably wouldn’t have fared any better if she’d had three _hours_ because the only thing she could think of was how nervous she felt. She had never really gone to a party before, at least not like the one she was about to go to, and had no idea what to expect. Being someone who liked to always feel prepared, Lexa was growing more anxious by the minute as she flipped through a few chapters in her new textbooks and tried to focus her mind.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Raven muttered, not bothering to take her eyes off the screen of her phone as she tapped her finger around on it.

“Hmm?” Lexa hummed in confusion as she looked over at the brunette.

“You’re freaking yourself out by thinking too hard about whoever it is you’re nervous to see at the party you’re avoiding getting ready for,” Raven explained with a knowing smirk.

Lexa was shocked at the girl’s astute and 100% correct observations but said nothing in response. They sat in silence for a few moments before the nosy mechanic was speaking again.

“So who is it?” Raven pushed.

“N-no one,” Lexa hesitated. “I’m just... not sure... what I should wear.”

“Okay, even though that’s total bullshit,” Raven sighed as she heaved herself off her bed and headed into their closet, “I’ll help you anyways.”

Lexa rolled her eyes and suddenly felt as if she was back living with Anya by the way Raven was talking back to her but set her book aside and pushed herself off her bed to stand beside her roommate who was already rummaging through her clothes like they were her own.

“First college party?” Raven asked as she glanced quickly over at Lexa and waited for her answer.

“Yeah.”

“So you’re either going to want to dress like you’re going to a really hot new club downtown,” Raven explained, “or like you’re going to a baseball game.”

Baseball game. She’d been to one of those. Lexa’s mind went back to the time she’d gone with Clarke and remembered she wore shorts and a plaid shirt that night. As she reached for her favorite one, Lexa stole a questioning glance over at Raven who shrugged her shoulders and made a quiet sound of disapproval, so Lexa retracted her hand and watched as her roommate stood on her tiptoes to pull at a stack of t-shirts on the top shelf before yanking one down and unfolding it to inspect it quickly.

“I’ll find out who you’re stressing about eventually, you know,” Raven said as she handed Lexa the approved shirt. “I can’t be held responsible for going through your phone if you just so happen to leave it unlocked and lying on your bed for anyone to snoop through.”

_Of course it’s just my luck to be rooming with an Anya reincarnate._

“Her name is Clarke,” Lexa finally confessed.

“Clarke,” Raven repeated as if she was tasting the name on her tongue. “Cool name. Girlfriend?”

“No,” Lexa replied quietly as she picked at a loose thread at the hem of the t-shirt she was holding.

“You do own skinny jeans, right?” Raven asked as she eyed Lexa’s stack of clothes again.

Lexa said nothing and reached for her darkest pair, holding them up for Raven to see. The other girl just nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, as if she was waiting for Lexa to start changing right then and there, and released a dramatic sigh when she realized Lexa was waiting for her to either turn around or leave. She turned around, and Lexa slowly began to strip out of the clothes she was already wearing to put on her new ‘party approved’ outfit.

“So she isn’t your girlfriend, but you’re dating her?” Raven asked as she kept her back towards the brunette.

“No,” Lexa automatically replied. “Well... I don’t know...”

“You don’t _know_ if you’re dating her?” Raven asked as she turned her head to the side.

“We went to our senior prom together,” Lexa explained hesitantly as she pulled on her new shirt, “but then she found out she was spending the summer in Europe so we decided not to date.”

“And now?”

_Good question._

“She invited me to this party,” Lexa said with a small shrug as she inched her jeans up and over her hips.

“Well, the party is definitely not a date,” Raven said knowingly as she turned back around.

“I know,” Lexa replied softly.

“That still doesn’t mean you can’t end the night on a happy note though,” Raven teased as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

A faint pink blush painted the tops of Lexa’s cheeks as she broke eye contact with the girl and readjusted her glasses before walking back into their room to sit back down on her bed. They continued chatting for a while about Clarke, and Lexa even dared to ask Raven if she was dating anyone and immediately regretted it when the resulting answer included a rundown of the girl’s entire love life history complete with details Lexa wished she’d never heard from _anyone_ let alone her roommate. Raven liked to talk, that was for sure, but Lexa couldn’t help but wonder if some of the things she was saying were exaggerated even slightly so.

After checking her appearance in the bathroom mirror one final time, Lexa bid her roommate a good night and headed out of her dorm to make the short walk across campus to meet Clarke. Keeping her nerves in check as best she could, Lexa continued quickly along her route and went over a few scenarios in her head about what the party she was about to be at might actually be like. She still hadn’t made the decision whether she was going to drink or not, seeing as she’d never been drunk before and wasn’t sure the first time she wanted to do it to be among countless strangers, but she did want to have a good time with Clarke and indulge in the college lifestyle for at least a little while before her studies took over her life.

“Hey!” Clarke shouted excitedly as she whipped her room door open after Lexa had politely knocked on it.

“Hi,” Lexa replied quietly as she focused in on Clarke’s radiant smile.

“Come in!” Clarke demanded as she reached for Lexa’s wrist and pulled her inside the cramped room.

“Welcome to the palace,” Octavia said sarcastically as she dabbed a layer of shiny gloss on her lips as she sat on her bed and held a small mirror up to her face.

“It’s small and our neighbors are really loud,” Clarke explained, “but it’s home!”

Lexa nodded her head in understanding and offered a tight-lipped smile to the blonde before letting her eyes trail over the space and take in everything she could. Clarke wasn’t kidding when she said the room was small; it was probably less than half the size of Lexa’s and the only window in the room was so tiny that it probably did nothing to light the room during the daytime. There was no place for bookshelves like Lexa had in her room, so there were two rows of wall shelves hanging above each of the beds that could serve as a spot to hold textbooks and other things that wouldn’t fit in their small desks. Lexa imagined Clarke having to climb up onto her bed each time she wanted to place or remove a book on said shelves and felt bad for the hassle it probably was for her. It wasn’t until Clarke was showing her the inside of their cramped closet on the opposite side of the room that Lexa took a good look at what Clarke was wearing.

She suddenly felt under-dressed as she looked down at the black skirt and sheer black top that Clarke had on, and the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach grew even more when she noticed Octavia wearing honest to goodness leather pants and a teeny tiny top that exposed most of her stomach. It was too late for Lexa to go back to her room to change, and it would have been fruitless as well since she didn’t own anything that could even remotely compete with the style the other girls had going on, so she tried not to dwell on it for too long before she felt herself being pulled back out into the hallway and led out of the dorm.

The walk to the party was a bit on the long side, but Lexa couldn’t have cared less since she had been holding Clarke’s hand the entire time. It had only been the second time they’d held hands like that, since the night of the baseball game all those months ago, and like everything else she did with Clarke, Lexa was quickly becoming addicted to the feeling of it. She nearly shuddered when she felt the gentle pass of Clarke’s thumb over her knuckles as they stepped into the sorority house where the party was being held and hoped she would be able to feel the same motion again and again as the night wore on.

“Lexa!”

Lexa’s face broke out with a wide smile as she watched her best friend approach her from across the living room, and she greeted him warmly when Monty finally stood directly in front of her. He exchanged pleasantries with Clarke and Octavia, which they reciprocated warmly, and the greetings continued when Harper made her way over with a cup of some unknown type of alcohol that looked like fruit punch in each hand.

“What is that?” Octavia asked as she pointed at the cup in Harper’s hand.

“Punch,” Harper said with a smirk before adding, “with a punch.”

“Sounds like my kind of drink!” Octavia exclaimed before turning towards Clarke and beckoning her into the kitchen.

“Do you want one?” Clarke asked as she leaned in towards Lexa speak over the loud music playing around them.

“Um,” Lexa hesitated as she looked around at the crowd, “sure.”

“Are you just saying sure because I’m getting one?” Clarke said into Lexa’s ear as she leaned even closer to the brunette.

“No,” Lexa replied as she lowered her gaze to Clarke’s mouth hovering just inches in front of her own. “I want one.”

A small grin crawled across Clarke’s face as if she finally believed Lexa’s assurance that she did in fact want a drink too, and Lexa watched as she turned away from her and took one step towards the kitchen. What she didn’t realize was that she was still clinging to Clarke’s fingers intertwined in her own which caused Clarke to turn back around with a questioning look in her eyes. Lexa’s heart nearly broke free from her chest as she watched Clarke lean towards her to brush a featherlight kiss at the very corner of her mouth before pulling back with a soft smirk on her face.

“I’ll be right back,” Clarke said as she punctuated her statement with a small squeeze to the hand that had forgotten to let go.

“Right,” Lexa choked out as a deep crimson blush stained her cheeks all the way to the tops of her ears before she withdrew her hand from Clarke’s sheepishly and shoved them both into the back pockets of her jeans.

She watched as Clarke and Octavia walked quickly into the kitchen with their arms linked together and managed to pull her attention away from the retreating girls for a few moments to survey her other friends standing in front of her. Thankfully they were both dressed similarly to Lexa, so she didn’t feel too out of place, and noticed that there were a lot of other people who were sporting jeans and t-shirts as well which made her feel even better. Harper caught her eye, and Lexa swallowed before smiling politely as the other girl lifted her eyebrows and leaned in close.

“So are you and Clarke official now?” She asked before a smirk pushed its way onto her lips.

“No,” Lexa replied, and her heart sank just a bit. “I mean... we haven’t really talked about... being official yet.”

“It’ll only be a matter of time,” Monty chimed in before taking a swig of his drink and draping his arm around Harper’s waist as she stood beside him.

“Yeah, she’s totally smitten with you,” Harper said with a knowing smile sprawled across her face, “as if that cute little kiss she just gave you didn’t make it totally obvious.”

“Cute little kiss,” Monty repeated as if to tease his best friend.

It only served to intensify Lexa’s blush, and she shook her head disapprovingly at her friends before letting out a long sigh to try and calm the pounding in her chest and the heat on her cheeks. Luckily they fell into another conversation quickly, and the time seemed to fly by until Lexa noticed Clarke appear in the living room once again with a cup of punch in each of her hands. Octavia was no longer with her, and Lexa questioned it in her own head as she reached out to take the cup being presented to her.

“Thanks,” Lexa said quietly.

Clarke didn’t offer any audible reply but simply gazed back at the brunette with a smile that seemed to brighten her entire face before she lifted her own cup to her lips and took a healthy sip. Lexa was intrigued by the fact that Clarke hadn’t winced in disgust at the taste, since she was expecting her to, and ventured to take a drink out of her own cup as well. It tasted like citrus mixed with just a hint of coconut, and it was far from the most disgusting thing she’d ever had. She hummed to herself in approval and took another smaller sip before hearing Harper speak up.

“Where’s Octavia?”

“Oh,” Clarke began as she lowered her cup from her mouth, “she saw someone who annoyed her earlier today and wanted to, quote, give her a piece of her mind. I didn’t want to get involved, so I left her to do her thing.”

“Poor person,” Harper muttered at which the group just laughed, knowing how feisty the brunette could get when something or someone struck a nerve with her.

“So which dorms are you guys in?” Clarke directed towards Monty and Harper.

“I’m in eight with Lexa,” Monty answered.

“I’m in ten,” Harper followed up.

“Why the hell am I the only one being punished?” Clarke asked dramatically and quickly clarified when she saw Monty and Harper giving her confused looks. “I’m in two.”

“Ah,” Harper said as she understood.

It was a well-known fact among the students at Polis University that the first four of the ten dormitory buildings were original to the campus and lacked private bathrooms that all of the two-person rooms had in the newer buildings, and although dorm assignments were apparently random, it seemed all too unfair that Clarke and Octavia were the only two of seemingly the entire graduating class of Arkadia High that were made to live in the older buildings. It was probably the universe’s way of leveling out the extreme coincidence of Clarke and Octavia ending up being roommates.

“At least you’re closer to Grounders,” Monty offered before taking a gulp of his drink. “I hear they make the best coffee on campus.”

“Who cares about coffee?” Octavia chimed in as if she appeared from out of nowhere. “We’re at a party, so let’s party bitches!”

The group just laughed at the brunette’s enthusiasm and it wasn’t too long that they had split up to mingle, and by the third time Clarke had insisted that the go dance, Lexa finally relented and followed her into the middle of the living room where a large group of people were moving to the beat of the pounding music that seemed to be coming from every corner of the house. Just as Lexa had begun to feel a warming in her chest, most likely as a result from the alcohol she was drinking, Clarke and Octavia proceeded to down their drinks on a bet to see who could chug faster and Lexa decided to slow her pace since it looked like the rest of her friends were well on their way to getting far more drunk than she’d planned to herself.

As the party rolled on and drinks continued to be consumed, Clarke had finally crossed the blurry line between buzzed and drunk and Lexa found herself steadying the blonde at nearly every turn. She had wanted to leave the party hours ago but had to make sure Clarke got back to her dorm safely, so Lexa stayed by her side until she and Octavia had finally decided that they were ready for bed. Octavia was surprisingly steady on her feet during the lengthy walk back to their dorm, while Clarke on the other hand was taking every opportunity to lean against Lexa that she could. Not that Lexa was complaining.

“Has anyone ever told you how long your hair is?” Clarke asked Lexa with a droopy smile on her face.

“Um,” Lexa began softly, “no?”

“Well, can I tell you a secret then?” Clarke whispered, at which Lexa just nodded. “It’s long!”

“Lexa has long locks,” Octavia chimed in, saying the words almost as if she was reciting a poem, before erupting into a fit of drunken giggles.

Clarke laughed along with her friend until the expression on her face suddenly changed to one of confusion.

“ _Lexa's_ long locks,” Clarke said as if she was correcting Octavia. “You said Lexa, and her name is Lexa.”

Lexa bit back a chuckle at the blonde’s unintelligible rambling, and Octavia let out a small whistle as she threw her hands up and over her head before looking back at both of the girls.

“I’m so sorry, Lexa,” Octavia slurred. “I always thought your name was _Lexa_.”

“Hey, that rhymes!” Clarke said as if she was astonished by her friend’s clever choice of words.

Unable to stop herself, Lexa let a soft chuckle spill from her lips which immediately drew Clarke’s attention and she stared down at Lexa’s lips blatantly.

“I like it when you laugh,” Clarke finally said as she raised her gaze up to Lexa’s eyes. “You should laugh more. I like it.”

Not knowing how to respond, Lexa just smiled and nodded and continued walking between the girls as they grew closer to building two with each sloppy step.

“How come I can’t make you laugh more like you just laughed?” Clarke blurted out before looking over at Lexa. “Am I funny?”

“Yeeep,” Octavia interjected, “funny looking!”

“Hey, who asked you?” Clarke quipped as she batted her hand over at Octavia who barely managed to dodge it.

“You did,” Octavia answered as she rolled her eyes.

“I asked Lexa,” Clarke replied, “not you, jackass.”

At that, Octavia held up her hands which formed a perfect ‘w’ and shrugged her shoulders without saying another word. Lexa remained silent through the exchange as well until Clarke tipped her head up and spoke again.

“Do you really think I’m funny looking, Lexa?” She asked quietly as her gaze locked onto Lexa’s.

“No, I...” Lexa immediately responded but stopped herself to swallow her nervousness, “I think you’re beautiful, Clarke.”

A deeper pink rushed to the tops of Clarke’s already flushed cheeks as she bit her lip through a shy smile and turned her head away as if she was suddenly too bashful to look into the piercing green eyes staring back at her. Lexa felt her own face heat up from the admission and snapped her eyes over at Octavia who was gaping back at her, a look of utter shock painted across her face.

“Daaamn!” Octavia finally shouted. “Lexa’s got mad game! Who’d a thunk it?”

A comfortable silence fell among the three of them as they made quick work of a distance comparable to a few city blocks, and Lexa took a few moments to study her surroundings in the quietness of the night. The architecturally beautiful buildings around campus looked even more impressive under the darkness of the hour, illuminated by warm amber bulbs shining atop the ornate lamp posts scattered along the sidewalks, and she almost felt like she was on the set of some perfectly quintessential University campus movie as she passed by perfectly trimmed hedges and freshly manicured lawns. She was finally living one of her long awaited dreams, and Lexa couldn’t have been prouder of herself that she’d finally made it there.

“Why don’t people eat more grapes?” Clarke finally broke the silence.

“What are you talking about, Clarke?” Octavia asked in disbelief. “A lot of people eat grapes.”

“Yeah, but do a _lot_ of people eat a _lot_ of grapes?” Clarke continued as if she had just asked the single most philosophical question of the century.

“ _We_ could eat a lot of grapes,” Octavia suggested with a shrug.

“Can we stop for grapes?” Clarke asked as she reached over and tugged on Lexa’s arm like a child would do to their parent. “Please?”

“Yeah, please?” Octavia mimicked as she clasped her hands in front of her chest hopefully. “We love grapes!”

It took Lexa the remainder of their walk back to the dorms to convince them that there wasn’t a market close enough to campus to stop at for grapes, even green ones as Clarke had tried to insist were easier to find, and was more relieved than she thought she’d be when they finally made it into the intoxicated girls’ room where Octavia immediately set to work ridding herself of her clothes before flopping down onto her bed with a muffled thud.

Lexa quickly rummaged through Clarke’s stack of clothes piled in her closet to take out an oversized t-shirt for the blonde to change into and had to blindly hand it to her as her back was turned when she noticed Clarke’s hands starting to pull at her own shirt without even a single warning. As much as Lexa would have loved an up-close view of the parts of Clarke’s body she had only dreamed about seeing, it would have been taking advantage and just the thought of that made Lexa uncomfortable enough to squirm a bit as she stood patiently waiting for Clarke to climb under her sheets.

“Wait!” Clarke whispered loudly as she reached her hand out towards Lexa’s retreating form. “Where are you going?”

“I’m just going to get you and Octavia some water,” Lexa stated softly. “I’ll be right back.”

“Promise?” Clarke asked as her eyes widened with what almost looked to be fear.

“Yes,” Lexa answered quietly and moved to slip out of the room and head down to where she had noticed a vending machine was when they passed it on their way back from the party.

By the time she got back into the room, both girls were sleeping and Lexa moved as quietly as possible while she set a bottle of water on each of their bedside tables along with a few tablets of aspirin from the bottle she had seen poking out from one of their toiletry bags. Before she left for the night, Lexa found herself at the edge of Clarke’s bed, crouching down beside it, and lifting her hand to gently brush her fingertips against Clarke’s rosy cheek.

Her breathing stilled for a moment when she saw Clarke’s eyes flutter open and meet hers in a sleepy gaze before she felt a hand land atop her own and then move to trail down her arm until it rested lightly in the crook of her elbow. Lexa swallowed carefully and let a soft smile fall onto her lips before she leaned in a brushed them against Clarke’s forehead. She stood slowly and made sure to lock their door from the inside before stepping out and latching it behind her, leaving Clarke to fall into a deep sleep with a blissful smile scrawled gently across her face.

* * *

 

A dull throb at the base of her head continued to increase in intensity as Clarke’s senses began to come back to her slowly, and it wasn’t a few seconds later that she felt her face cringe as a result of an indistinguishable ache radiating through every one of the bones in her body. Small tidbits of her memories of the previous night flashed through her mind and instantly drained whatever minuscule amounts of energy she had stored up throughout the night as Clarke battled against the decision on whether to open her eyes or keep them closed for the rest of her painful and miserable life. It wasn’t until a scratchy groan sounded from the opposite side of the room that Clarke chose the former and eased her eyelids apart with more caution than she’d thought possible.

“Mother fucker,” Octavia rasped as she weakly pulled at a spare pillow beside her head and covered her face with it.

Clarke almost laughed, almost, until she felt the smile tugging at her lips increase the pressure in her brain and quickly dropped any pretense of humor whatsoever as she turned her gaze towards her roommate.

“What the fuck did I ever do to deserve this fucking stupid ass sun burning into my retinas first damn thing in the morning,” Octavia let fly as she pointed blindly to the window along her wall while her voice was still muffled by the weight of her pillow resting over her face.

Clarke couldn’t help but chuckle that time as she took in the sight of a blinding ray of morning sunshine violently beaming across the middle of her roommate’s pillow and thought that it served the brunette right for having shoved Clarke out of the way to claim that side of the room the previous day. The chuckle was short-lived though, and Clarke’s attention was drawn away from her friend and over to the unopened bottle of water she saw sitting just within Octavia’s reach. She quickly, well as quickly as she comfortably could, looked over to her own bedside table and noticed a matching bottle along with two aspirin tablets sitting next to it and immediately knew who had been responsible.

Her heart clenched in her chest as she thought about how Lexa had probably carefully tucked them in and quietly set the waters on their tables for them, and Clarke was almost embarrassed as she wondered what ridiculous things she might have said to the shy girl in her drunken state. She reached over and uncapped the water with little effort until she realized that the position she was in wasn’t the best for drinking and set the bottle back down before struggling to angle herself up against the mound of her pillows crushed between herself and the wall. The water was now room temperature, but it felt like liquid ice as it poured down her parched throat, and she gulped down almost half the bottle before she’d even realized it. She popped the two pills into her mouth and took another small sip of water to swallow them down before screwing the cap back onto the bottle and relaxing herself back onto her pillows.

“It serves you right, you know,” Clarke finally spoke despite the sharp pains that shot through her brain with every word.

“Does not,” Octavia mumbled a few seconds later.

“Lexa put some aspirin on your table because she likes you more than I do,” Clarke said dryly as she closed her eyes and slowly circled her fingers against her temples.

Octavia threw out her hand towards her bedside table and knocked the bottle of water over before sending the pills flying to the floor, the sound making Clarke let out a long groan, and the brunette simply let a defeated sob escape her chest and muffle into the pillow against her mouth. The two remained silent for another few minutes, and Clarke actually thought Octavia had fallen back asleep until she heard the girl gasp and opened her eyes just in time to see a pillow fly halfway across the room to land on the floor between their beds.

“I couldn’t fucking breathe!” Octavia shouted dramatically, referring to the fact that her face had been covered by her pillow.

“So dramatic,” Clarke mumbled as she dared to swing her legs over the edge of her bed and stand up.

“Between the sun scorching my eyeballs as I sleep and the pillow suffocating me after I wake up, I’m going to _die_ before I get the beauty sleep I need to keep myself looking this good,” Octavia rambled on, just furthering Clarke’s point.

“Looking _that_ good?” Clarke teased as she shuffled over towards the closet and simply chuckled while she was presented with Octavia’s middle finger.

Clarke just rolled her eyes, puffy with sleep and still sensitive to the light pouring through their tiny window, and leaned over slowly to grab her shower caddy from the floor underneath her bed before digging through her clothes to find her most comfortable pair of yoga pants, a clean shirt, fresh underclothes, and a towel. She figured she would probably feel better after she took a shower and wiped away the smudged makeup she could feel around her eyes and wordlessly walked back across their room towards the door before slipping out into the hallway and making her way down to the showers.

Fortunately she was right, and Clarke sighed in relief as she stepped out of her steamy shower stall with her towel wrapped tightly around her body before chancing a glance at her reflection in the mirror. She was pleasantly surprised by what she saw and knew it wouldn’t take her much effort to pull her look together enough to be seen in a more public setting, which is exactly where she’d be within the next hour as the craving for caffeine nagged at her sluggish senses while she quickly pulled a brush through her wet hair. Octavia had zombied her way down to take a shower as well and didn’t hesitate to complain about her splitting headache as she patted lotion onto her freshly washed face and wrung her sopping hair between her towel a few more times.

When they were both dressed and as ready as they would ever be to face the day, Clarke and Octavia dropped their towels, dirty clothes, and toiletries off in their dorm room before starting on their short walk to Grounders coffee shop for a cup, or two or five, of what many students had sworn was the best java on campus. The smell of a fresh breakfast roast hit their noses the second they stepped foot inside the door, and Octavia’s lips immediately drew up into a lazy smile as she continued to enjoy whiff after whiff of the heavenly beverage.

“Good morning, my beautiful dark roasted friend,” Octavia murmured into her coffee cup before lifting it to her lips and taking a hearty sip.

“You’re the biggest nerd I know,” Clarke said with a chuckle before taking a drink of her own coffee.

“I believe that position is currently occupied by Lexa,” Octavia disagreed before taking another sip.

Clarke shot her best friend a look of warning, and Octavia quickly clarified.

“But, of course, I say that with love in my heart,” she said as she flashed Clarke an overly-sappy smile.

“She walked us home last night and tucked us into bed and set out water and pills for us,” Clarke told her. “She’s more like my personal hero than biggest nerd I know.”

“I’m just saying,” Octavia began with a shrug of her shoulders, “all that you just said sounds kind of nerdy to me.”

Clarke leveled Octavia with another look, putting a much heavier emphasis on a glare that time around, and Octavia rolled her eyes again.

“In a good way, Clarke,” Octavia assured her. “I’m trying to compliment your girlfriend, and you’re trying to kill me with your eye-daggers.”

“That's you trying to compliment her?” Clarke asked, dumbfounded.

“That's you not denying she’s your girlfriend,” Octavia shot back, and Clarke just blushed.

“Whatever,” Clarke mumbled before sinking down further into her chair and concentrating on the steaming cup of coffee in front of her face. “So what’s up with you and that hot mystery guy we saw at orientation?”

“He was fucking hot, right?” Octavia said as her expression suddenly lightened. “Too bad I never found him again.”

“He was,” Clarke agreed with a small nod, “but what about Lincoln?”

“Clarke...”

“I’m serious, O,” Clarke interrupted her friend. “I know you two are on a break or whatever, but how do you not think he’s going to be heartbroken when he finds out about you pursuing another student?”

“Okay, using the phrase _pursuing another student_ makes you sound like you’re eighty, Clarke,” Octavia said, “and who ever said that he’d be heartbroken? He agreed to the break just as much as I did.”

“Yeah, but–”

“I came up with this idea so that I _wouldn't_ break his heart,” Octavia continued. “It’s better for both of us this way.”

“I just think you’re spending too much time comparing yourself to someone you’re nothing like,” Clarke finally stated, and Octavia just pursed her lips in response.

Figuring that Lexa was already up for the day, Clarke pulled out her phone and typed out a quick text message before turning her attention back to her coffee and waiting patiently for a response. She stole a quick glance at her best friend who had pulled out her own phone and couldn't help but feel bad for her, just for a moment, as she thought about the most promising relationship she ever imagined Octavia having already dangerously teetering before the school year had even started.

**MsGriffster: Good morning, hero :)**

**Lexa Woods: Good morning, Clarke.**

Clarke heard her stomach grumble but pushed all thoughts about breakfast out of her head as she wiggled herself into an even more comfortable position in the over-stuffed chair she was scrunched into and typed out another text message.

**MsGriffster: Thanks for making sure we made it home safely.**

**Lexa Woods: You're very welcome.**

After she thought about what to type next, small pieces of the drunken conversation she managed to remember swirled around in her head and Clarke was momentarily embarrassed as she thought about anything else she may have said to Lexa in her inebriated state.

**MsGriffster: Sorry for anything embarrassing I may have said or done last night.**

**Lexa Woods: Other than a lengthy conversation about grapes and why more people don't eat more of them, nothing too out of the ordinary happened at or after the party.**

**MsGriffster: Good because I wouldn't have wanted to scare you off too soon, Woods.**

**Lexa Woods: A hundred nights like last night couldn't scare me away from you...**

**Lexa Woods: ...although it may cause me to worry about the health of your liver.**

She couldn't help herself as she let out a small giggle at Lexa's joke and glanced up to see Octavia rolling her eyes. Clarke threw her a playful glare and continued texting.

**MsGriffster: My future liver thanks you.**

**Lexa Woods: My future self accepts your liver's gratitude.**

Clarke snorted out a laugh at the fact that Lexa even flirted like an adorable nerd but all too soon the call of nature had distracted her from their conversation and Clarke made her way back to the restroom. Octavia remained in her seat, offering a grunt in response to Clarke's announcement that she was going to the bathroom, and tapped around on her phone for a few more seconds before deciding to make her way back up to the barista to order a second round of coffees. Just seconds after she stood and turned towards the general direction of the shop's counter, Octavia collided with another warm body and the lingering contents of her almost-gone coffee splattered all over the front of her shirt.

“You've got to be fucking _kidding_ me,” Octavia gritted through her teeth when she laid eyes on who had just run into her, noticing immediately that it was the same girl who had already annoyed her twice the previous day. “Is it like your life goal to follow me around and annoy the hell out of me?”

“I can hardly be to blame for the annoying part since you seem to do that so well on your own,” Raven shot back with a subtle raise of an eyebrow.

“Instead of lying awake at night practicing bitchy comebacks, maybe you should try learning how to... I don't know... _not_ walk into people?”

“Sorry to burst your egotistical little bubble, but I feel it's my duty to point out that _you're_ the one who walked into _me_ ,” Raven argued back as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Why don't you take your squeaky little leg and go back home before I accidentally pummel you with my now empty coffee cup,” Octavia said as she wiggled her cardboard cup in front of the brunette's face.

“Oh, um,” Raven said as she tapped her index finger on her chin a few times, “fuck you.”

“Aw, I guess you fell asleep before you could think of a second bitchy comeback,” Octavia said with the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“If you had the math skills of even a first grader, you'd have accurately deduced my last comeback was my third and not my second,” Raven quickly explained, “plus I think the phrase 'fuck you' screams bitch even without a sleepless night of pondering, don't you?”

“I won't argue with that,” Octavia replied triumphantly as if she was proud to win that round of banter with the stranger she'd now run into more times than she would have preferred.

“Well since it seems all you _can_ do is argue, I'll take your momentary inability to do so as my exit cue,” Raven said as she made her way towards the door.

“Not inability so much as complete lack of motivation to continue on with this ridiculous conversation,” Octavia yelled after her as the girl opened the door and turned her head back.

“You're just upset I got the last word in,” Raven called out before stepping through the door and throwing Octavia a cheeky wave.

After an epic roll of her eyes that managed to make her headache even worse, though it could have possibly been made worse by the annoying girl's mere presence, Octavia made her way up to the counter and put her order in for two more coffees to go just as Clarke walked up behind her.

“Where are we going?” Clarke asked.

“Far away from here,” Octavia said vaguely. “I need some greasy breakfast food anyways.”

“I am _totally_ down for that,” Clarke agreed and the two of them grabbed their coffees and headed out to dull their morning-after stomach pains with hearty helpings of pancakes, hash browns, and bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we all just take a moment to celebrate the one and only Raven Reyes finally making an appearance in this world?! YAY! I planned Raven being Lexa's roommate from the very beginning, and it was torturous leaving her out of the story for so long! I love her. Also, I'm aware that Zero-G Mechanics is not a thing you can major in. But this is fanfiction. So I made it a thing.
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy and Tumblr MsDorisDaisy)


	2. Part Two

“ **CLARKE**!”

A wild mess of curly blonde hair shot up from the fluffy pillow it had been resting on at the sound of her roommate’s loud voice startling her out of a peaceful yet intangible sleep. She blinked a few times as her heart rate returned to its normal pace and looked over to see Octavia standing in the doorway of their dorm room, two cups of coffee in her hands and ready to go for their first day of classes.

“You told me you were going to shower while I was out getting coffee,” Octavia said as she watched the blonde jump out of her bed in a state of panic.

“Shit!” Clarke cursed as she looked at the time on her phone. “Shit! Shit!”

“You literally have five minutes before we have to go,” Octavia said as she watched Clarke rush around their room.

“I _just_ checked my phone, Octavia,” Clarke snapped. “I know how much time I have.”

Clarke pulled their closet door open roughly and chanced a look at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the back of it and cringed at the sight she beheld.

“I can’t go to class looking like this!” Clarke practically screamed as she patted down her hair and tried to smooth out the wrinkles her pillowcase had imprinted on her face.

“Well, it’s either that or skipping,” Octavia said, “and I think your parents would murder you if they found out you skipped your first ever college class because you overslept.”

“Dammit,” Clarke mumbled under her breath as she reached for her hairbrush. “I never oversleep.”

“That’s a joke, right?” Octavia asked in all seriousness. “I’m allowed to laugh at that, right?”

Clarke said nothing as she shot Octavia a glare and tried to tie her hair up into a messy bun, hoping that it looked more like she had tried to style it that way rather than looking like she’d had no time whatsoever to style it.

Luckily Clarke was confident enough in her natural beauty that she felt comfortable wearing little to no makeup if necessary, and that particular day it was more than necessary, so she spent a few minutes hastily primping herself in other ways before throwing on the first somewhat decent outfit she could find in her closet and stuffed her English textbook along with a blank notebook into her bag. Octavia wordlessly handed her one of the coffee cups she was holding, and they both hurried out of their room towards their respective first classes.

They had compared their schedules earlier and noted that their Monday morning classes started at the same time and were along the same route, so it was only natural for them to plan on walking together. What Clarke hadn’t planned on was being late, and she cursed herself more than a few times that morning for staying up too late watching Netflix on her laptop when she should have been sleeping to make sure she wasn’t overly tired for her first official day. She glanced down at the time on her phone as Octavia broke away to dip into her class, and Clarke noted that she had exactly one minute to get to her own class which would be absolutely impossible given the distance she still needed to travel before making it to her building.

She picked up her pace considerably when she saw the time on her phone change again and began jogging in an attempt to get herself to her destination as few minutes quicker. She’d still be late, she knew she would be late, but being only five minutes late versus ten minutes late was always better. Right? As she rounded the corner and finally saw her classroom door just within her reach, Clarke took a second to calm her nerves and pace her breathing before pushing the door open as quietly as possible.

At least the classroom was set up with stadium seating with the main door leading into the very farthest row from the front, but there was no denying her presence went unnoticed when she made eye contact with the professor leaning against the front of his desk with his palms resting on top of its surface on either side of his body. She swallowed harshly as she felt her heart jump into her throat and couldn’t bring herself to move an inch as she held the man’s intense gaze for another few seconds.

“Are you lost?” The professor’s voice bellowed throughout the classroom.

Clarke opened her mouth to reply without even thinking about the question until she felt a seed of uncertainty grow in the pit of her stomach at the possibility that she had in fact stumbled into the wrong classroom and interrupted the professor who had that whole ‘pissed at the world’ look down perfectly. After a quick glace between the schedule clutched in her hand and the room number bolted to the door, Clarke confirmed she was in the right place after all and finally made an effort to respond.

“No,” she managed to croak out as a few more of the students’ gazes fell on her.

“So you’re just late then,” the professor snapped as he moved his arms to cross them in front of his chest. “Find a seat and try not to disturb the class more than you already have.”

Clarke closed her eyes and let a tight sigh fall from her lips before she looked down a few rows to see an open seat right next to the aisle. She made quick work of descending down a few steps and slipped into the chair as stealthily as she could, except for the small but well-known fact that Clarke Griffin had never been known to have been stealthy at anything. As she turned her body and lifted her coffee to set it down onto the table in front of her, the bottom of the cup caught on the edge of the wood surface and tipped forward just quickly enough for her to lose her grip on it completely. To her absolute horror the dark liquid splashed along the surface of the table and even flowed in a little stream towards her neighbor, quickly staining the edge of his notebook before he plucked it up quickly to save it from getting completely drenched.

“Shit!” Clarke whispered under her breath, “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” the student whispered back, at least trying to be graceful about the embarrassing situation Clarke had created for herself.

She gratefully accepted a few tissues from the girl seated behind her and tried to mop up the mess she made as best she could before hearing the booming voice of her professor getting closer to her with each step he ascended towards the commotion.

“If you’d noticed in my syllabus, I’m a man of many rules,” the professor told the class as he continued to climb. “I believe that wherever rules do not exist, there instead exists chaos. Rule number two in my classroom... do not enter with food or drink unless packed in a spill-proof container.”

Clarke could have sworn she audibly gulped when she looked up to see the professor towering over her with a wad of paper towels in his hand, holding them out for her with an intense look in his eyes. She was almost tempted not to take the towels and flip him off instead, seeing as he was just one second away from beating on his chest in his display of asserting his authority over her, but Clarke clenched her teeth and took the towels from his hand before turning her attention back to the spilled coffee on the table in front of her.

“I expect you all to not only to familiarize yourself with the rules of the classroom but also to live by them for the entire duration of the class period every single time you step foot past that door,” the professor said as he gestured to where the main door was behind him. “You  _will not fail_  if you _follow my rules_.”

Clarke continued to wipe her table and watched cautiously as the professor began to descend the stairs back towards the front of the classroom and was happy to have him so far away from her when he finally leaned up against his desk once again.

“Welcome to English and Literature 101,” he said sternly, “I am Professor Pike.”

**MsGriffster: I have a drill sergeant for an English teacher.**

**Baby Blake: Did he make you do pushups because you were late?**

**MsGriffster: I fucking wish.**

Clarke sighed and tucked her phone away, taking a moment to glance around the room for any familiar faces before turning her attention back to her textbook as Pike continued his lecture. His presence, his tone of voice, his fiery gaze that could cut through steel made him all the more intimidating, and Clarke found it equal parts fascinating and terrifying watching him stalk around the front of the classroom and spoke more like he was handing down orders than teaching a classroom full of students. One look over the rule list printed at the very beginning of the syllabus let Clarke know she was in for a _long_ semester.

Thankfully the end of the hour came quickly and without any further embarrassment at Clarke’s expense, and the classroom began to empty as quiet murmurs of conversations between students could be heard as the crowd dissipated. Clarke couldn’t have been happier when she felt the warmth of the sunshine beaming brightly against her face, and she breathed the fresh air into her lungs greedily just before a dull ache in her head reminded her that she hadn’t had her usual dose of caffeine for the morning. It was all that was on her mind as she walked into the main campus square until, that was, she spotted Lexa sitting on a stone bench not twenty feet in front of her and looking down at a book propped open in her lap.

“Lexa!” Clarke automatically called to get the girl’s attention.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth that Clarke wanted so desperately for Lexa not to have heard her as she realized the sad state she was in having not had the proper amount of time that morning to make herself look even halfway as presentable as she normally would. She momentarily considered turning around and running away before Lexa could react, but had no such time to follow through before she was staring back at the absolutely beautiful face Clarke had grown to adore. If any one person could define effortless beauty, Clarke was sure it was Lexa Woods.

A small smile followed up with an even smaller wave from the brunette let Clarke know she’d been spotted and forced herself to continue to close the gap between herself and the studious girl who appeared to already be working on homework. Which was typical. Clarke came to an abrupt stop a few feet away from Lexa and tucked a few stray pieces of hair behind her ear before speaking.

“Hey,” Clarke said with a shy smile.

“Hi,” Lexa replied as she quickly readjusted her glasses.

“Are you seriously working on homework already?” Clarke teased as she pointed down to the book in Lexa’s lap.

“I have a full afternoon of classes,” Lexa explained quietly, “so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to finish my morning assignments right away.”

“That way you can focus on your afternoon assignments in the evening,” Clarke said, playing along.

Lexa just nodded and lowered her pen to rest along the middle crease of her textbook while she continued to look up at Clarke. It was almost like she was trying to figure out why the blonde wasn’t making any move to sit down in the empty spot on the bench, but Lexa made no effort to actually ask. A few seconds passed as the two simply looked at each other until Clarke cleared her throat lightly and opened her mouth to speak.

“I kind of spilled my morning coffee before class, well, _during_ class so I wanted to hurry and grab another cup before my next class starts,” Clarke explained and watched Lexa nod in understanding, “but maybe later we could meet at the library and do some homework together or something.”

“Okay,” Lexa agreed quietly and nodded again.

“Okay,” Clarke said through a growing smile. “I’ll text you.”

“Okay,” Lexa agreed as her own smile crept onto her face.

“Okay,” Clarke said one final time as she let out a small giggle.

The silly smiles they shared probably made them both look like they were ten year olds with a crush, but neither of them cared enough to stop themselves from looking at the other for another few seconds before Clarke finally started back on her journey towards coffee. Even after she had passed the brunette on the bench, Clarke couldn’t help herself from letting the sappy grin on her face grow even wider as she thought about spending the evening with Lexa alone in the library.

* * *

 

**MsGriffster: Success! First day of college is in the books!**

**Lexa Woods: It’s only 2pm, Clarke. There’s still plenty of the day left.**

**MsGriffster: You know what I mean.**

Lexa chuckled. She did know what Clarke meant but conversing with the blonde was something Lexa always looked forward to, so she oftentimes would find herself looking for any excuse to keep their conversations going. She was almost at her final class for the day and quickly rounded the last corner she knew would lead her right up to her classroom door. Just as she got within about ten feet of it, Lexa slowed her pace as she concentrated on her phone and leaned casually against the wall as she typed out another message.

**Lexa Woods: I do.**

**MsGriffster: What time are you done for the day?**

**Lexa Woods: My last class ends at 3:30pm.**

**MsGriffster: Do you still want to meet later?**

**Lexa Woods: Yes.**

The smile that broke onto Lexa’s face was unstoppable even though she had no desire to suppress it, and her fingers waited patiently to continue typing until Clarke sent a text to which she could respond. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and the thought that just a single conversation, a few texts between them, was enough to warrant such a reaction was exciting and a little terrifying all at the same time. Lexa pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as her thoughts raced, and she only had to wait another few seconds until she felt her phone vibrate again.

**MsGriffster: I’ll wait for you in front of the library whenever you can make it over after class.**

**Lexa Woods: It should only take me about 10 minutes to get there.**

**MsGriffster: Okay, see you at 3:40pm then :)**

Lexa was just about to respond with her own ‘okay’ and one of those ridiculous emoticons when a familiar face caught her attention as it passed by right in front of her. She blinked and barely registered the words coming out of her mouth but couldn’t stop herself from calling out.

“Mr. Kane?”

At the sound of his name, Marcus Kane turned his head to the side before a smile brightened his entire face when he saw who had beckoned him.

“Lexa!” He said cheerfully as he walked a few steps towards his former student. “I was wondering which Arkadia High graduate I’d see first. I’m glad it was you.”

Lexa felt a faint blush rise to her cheeks at the compliment but told herself to pay no attention to it as she continued on with their newly-started conversation.

“What are you doing here?” Lexa asked as she pushed herself off the wall she was leaning up against.

“I was actually quite surprised to get a call from the head of the English department over the summer,” Marcus explained, “and he asked if I would be interested in filling in this semester for a professor who had to take an unplanned medical leave.”

“So you’re teaching here now?” Lexa asked quietly as her eyes widened just slightly.

“At least for the semester,” Marcus replied with a smile.

“What about Arkadia?” Lexa questioned, knowing it would be impossible for him to commute between the two cities every day not to mention the reason she was seeing him in the afternoon was due to the fact that he was most likely teaching daytime classes which would interfere with classes taught at a high school.

“They granted me an extended leave so that I could teach here for the semester, hopefully for the year, and start back at Arkadia next year,” Marcus said before adding, “if I would want to.”

“You don’t want to teach at Arkadia High anymore?” Lexa asked as her eyebrows arched in surprise.

“It’s just so _incredible_ here!” Marcus enthused dramatically. “There’s a feeling in the air... a buzz... there’s excitement around every corner.”

Lexa narrowed her eyes as he continued gushing about the amazement he felt being on campus and wasn’t quite understanding his enthusiasm but nodded along regardless and offered small smiles when she felt it was appropriate. She made sure not to let the time get away from her and managed to check her cell phone discretely a few times without Marcus noticing as he went on and on about how much he was enjoying his first day.

“So did any of your friends follow you here?” Marcus asked, suddenly changing the subject as if he realized he’d been dominating the conversation.

“Um,” Lexa began hesitantly, “a few.”

She had a feeling he knew she wasn’t the most popular student at Arkadia High, but he didn’t push her for any more information when he realized there wasn’t more being offered.

“Well, I suppose you’re trying to get to class,” Marcus said with a knowing smile as he nodded towards the doorway they were standing next to.

“Yeah, I don’t want to be late,” Lexa stated as she placed her hands around the strap of her messenger bag.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” Marcus told her as a polite smile settled onto his face. “It was good to see you, Lexa.”

“You too, Mr. Kane,” Lexa offered genuinely before turning around and walking up to the door that lead into her classroom.

She found an open seat on the far edge of the room, about halfway back from the front of the class that Lexa thought would provide her with the best view of the whiteboard. After rummaging through her bag for a few seconds, Lexa pulled out the bright red notebook she’d dedicated to taking her English notes in along with her two textbooks and a pen. She flipped the notebook open to the first blank page and clicked the end of her pen before looking up and letting her mouth fall open at what, or more specifically _who_ , she saw.

“Good afternoon, class,” Marcus said from his position behind the large desk in the front of the room. “My name is Professor Kane, and this is Advanced American Literature and Poetry. If you’re not signed up for this class or have a general dislike of reading and writing poetry, then I suggest you make a quiet exit while the rest of us pretend not to judge you.”

A hearty chuckle expanded throughout the classroom as the students’ faces lit up with the welcomed humor from their professor, but Lexa was still having trouble with the realization that her English teacher in high school was now also going to be her English professor in college. She watched as he unpacked his own textbooks from his bag and moved around to the front of his desk, and Lexa bit back a shy smile when he made eye contact with her and winked knowingly before continuing on with his introduction and subsequent lesson that managed to successfully entertain the entire class until the hour had ended.

“Miss Woods,” Marcus called out to her as the classroom was emptying, “can I see you for a moment?”

Lexa just nodded as she packed up her things before making her way up to his desk. He flashed her a comical smile as if he was proud of his little ruse he’d pulled by not letting her know he was going to be her professor but finally broke the silence when Lexa stood patiently at the corner of his desk.

“I’d like your opinion on something if you don’t mind,” Marcus said as he crossed his arms over his chest and let a rather serious expression fall onto his face. “Do you think I should tell the class my pancake story?”

Lexa couldn’t help but let a small chuckle slip past her lips at the question and smiled even wider when she heard Marcus laughing along with her. They continued quietly for a few moments before Lexa cleared her throat and spoke.

“I think that one should stay back in Arkadia,” Lexa teased.

“Don’t lie to me, Lexa,” Marcus said as he laughed again, “you love that story.”

Lexa said nothing but the small shrug of her shoulders told him all he needed to know as she took a few steps towards the exit.

“See you on Wednesday,” he said with a smile and a small wave.

She walked through the door shaking her head lightly and smiling, never stopping actually, until she reached the front steps of the library. When Lexa looked up and saw Clarke smiling brightly back at her, Lexa’s heart flipped in her chest as she resisted the urge to take the stairs two at a time to get up to her. As she got closer and closer, Lexa couldn’t help but notice Clarke’s dramatic change in appearance from when she’d seen her earlier but didn’t stop herself from carefully studying the way her curly blonde hair rested gently against the tops of her shoulders and how her lips seemed to glisten under the afternoon sun as they pulled into a wider smile with each step Lexa climbed.

“Hey,” Clarke greeted the very moment Lexa reached the top of the stairs.

“Hi,” Lexa replied through a shy smile.

“Sorry for looking like a mess earlier this morning,” Clarke said as she rolled her eyes at the memory. “I overslept and didn’t even have enough time to brush my teeth. It was gross. I mean, I felt gross and I know I looked gross–”

“Clarke,” Lexa interrupted gently.

“Sorry,” Clarke said as the realization that she was rambling dawned on her. “How was your day?”

Lexa thought for a moment how to respond as they both turned and walked towards the library doors, and she looked over at Clarke with a twinkle in her eyes and a faint smirk on her lips.

* * *

 

“I can't _believe_ you get Kane for English while I'm stuck with the dictator from hell,” Clarke complained quietly as she and Lexa made their way into the library.

Sure, Clarke had been to blame for getting her English professor and herself off on the wrong foot. She had been late to his class, her first ever class of University, and she had made an absolute mess of her table and her neighbor's notebook from spilling her coffee as she clumsily took her seat. But those things aside, Professor Pike was practically the epitome of tyrannical. His endless lists of rules and expectations did nothing but set his students up for failure before they could even prove their worth. Although she was thankful she didn't have another class or professor similar, Clarke knew she'd be struggling more with Pike than the actual material being taught throughout the semester.

“Would you be interested in switching classes?” Clarke asked teasingly yet hopefully.

“Only if you would be interested in Advanced American Literature and Poetry,” Lexa told her.

Clarke looked back silently at Lexa and scrunched her face disapprovingly which only made Lexa smirk dreamily at her. She was pretty positive that Clarke could make any expression look more adorable than it actually was, and it made Lexa's heart jump. Ever since the night they spent together at their senior prom and they had each confessed their feelings towards the other, Lexa was sure there wasn't anything Clarke could do or say that she didn't find absolutely endearing. Little did she know that Clarke felt the exact same way about her.

“So poetry, huh?” Clarke asked with a small twinkle in her eyes. “Will you be writing it or reading it?”

“Both,” Lexa replied quietly as she couldn't help but try to memorize the way Clarke's eyes were sparkling.

“In that case, I wouldn't be opposed to you writing something for me someday,” Clarke flirted and threw Lexa a shy smile, “you know, if you wanted to.”

“I don't think I could write something good enough for you,” Lexa heard herself confess.

Her throat instantly dried at the words, suddenly nervous that she'd said too much, implied too much, and she tried swallowing as Clarke simply stared back at her as they continued to walk slowly through the library. Lexa couldn't read the expression on Clarke's face, although it was another adorable one, and she began fidgeting with the strap of her messenger bag as the silence between them continued on for another few seconds. As her chest expanded and slowly contracted with a long deep breath, Lexa closed her eyes for just a split second as she gathered enough courage to speak again.

“I could try,” was all she was able to offer, but it was sincere. And Clarke knew it.

The smile on Clarke’s face grew almost instantaneously before she broke their gaze and looked down at the floor as they made their way even farther into the large building. Lexa wanted so badly to prompt Clarke with a request to paint something for her one day in turn, if she wanted to, but couldn't manage to find the words or the bravery to ask. They each diverted their gazes to take in the grandness of the rows of books that appeared to be endless before reaching a small area of couches near the middle of the expansive room.

“Should we sit here?” Clarke asked as she pointed at the comfortable furniture.

“Sure,” Lexa replied softly.

Clarke plopped herself down onto one side of the couch near the end so that she had easy access to pile her books on top of the small table positioned holding up a small but quite powerful lamp. She knew she had to work on a sketch for one of her art classes, and Clarke figured the extra light wouldn't hurt which is part of the reason she chose that particular position on the couch. Lexa slipped her bag from around her shoulder and rested it gently on the coffee table before taking a seat in the middle of the couch next to Clarke.

“How much homework do you have?” Clarke asked as she pulled a few of her textbooks from her bag.

“A manageable amount,” Lexa replied with a small shrug.

Clarke rolled her eyes at Lexa's vague (and somewhat formal) answer and took it upon herself to reach out for the small black leather notebook resting the brunette's lap, figuring it was her assignment notebook. As she flipped it open and scanned the first page, Clarke confirmed her suspicions and quietly read through each of the assignments Lexa had written down. She scrunched her brow as she noticed small red check marks next to most of the items listed and slowly realized that Lexa was more than ahead of her in the homework department.

“You barely have anything left to do!” Clarke exclaimed as quietly as she could so as to not disturb the other students in the library.

“I still have some things,” Lexa offered weakly as she watched Clarke look over her assignment list a second time.

“You have _two_ things,” Clarke clarified as she handed Lexa back her notebook.

“I have syllabuses for all my classes,” Lexa said as she took the notebook, “so I can work ahead.”

“Hopefully your study skills start rubbing off of me the more we hang out,” Clarke said with a smirk.

“Hopefully your procrastination skills don't rub off of me,” Lexa teased back shyly, at which Clarke feigned offense.

“Hey!” Clarke warned with a small shove to Lexa's shoulder. “Maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle.”

Lexa simply nodded in agreement, even though she was thinking there was no way she wanted to brush up on procrastination skills at any point in her college career, but she knew by that point that there wasn't much she wouldn't agree with if Clarke suggested it. They fell into an easy silence, during which each of them were comfortably hunched over a textbook, and Lexa couldn't help but let her mind wander for a while. Spending time with Clarke, just being there with her, were the exact moments Lexa had wanted so badly to share and she was almost giddy with the excitement that was bubbling in her chest at finally finding herself there.

The hours seemed to speed by as each of them continued diligently crossing items off their assignment 'To Do' lists until the rumbling in Clarke's stomach broke both their girls' attention. With an embarrassed glance over towards Lexa, Clarke blushed and shrugged her shoulders lightly. She checked the time on her phone and sighed when Clarke realized that they had missed their opportunity to grab dinner in the University cafeteria by mere minutes.

“We missed dinner,” Clarke stated, at which Lexa nodded. “I think I need something from the vending machine.”

“What do you want?” Lexa asked, already placing her book onto the coffee table in front of her.

“Surprise me,” Clarke said with a mischievous smile on her face, but Lexa scrunched her eyebrows in worry.

_Surprise her?_

Lexa's mind began racing as she thought about all of the possibilities that waited for her in the snack machines and grew increasingly nervous at the prospect of bringing something back for Clarke that she wouldn't like. She dug back in her memories at all of the times she'd seen Clarke eat or drink, trying to recall something, anything, that would give her a hint.

_Hot dogs, cotton candy, pizza, cannolis, sandwiches..._

They were all foods Lexa knew Clarke enjoyed but also knew she wouldn't likely find them in a vending machine. Maybe deciding on a drink first would be easier. Just as Lexa filed through those memories, Clarke's voice broke her train of thoughts.

“How about a granola bar and a Diet Coke?” Clarke offered with a gentle smile as if she knew the inner turmoil Lexa had just been going through.

Lexa snapped her gaze up to Clarke's and felt herself nodding quickly before standing to her feet and making her way towards the front of the library. If she would have looked back, she would have seen Clarke biting back a smile at her hasty exit but nevertheless continued on until she was face-to-face with the giant vending machines positioned just inside the main entrance. A few bills inserted and buttons pushed later, Lexa walked back to where she had left Clarke with two Diet Cokes and two granola bars in her hands.

“Thanks,” Clarke said with a smile as she took the items being offered to her.

They munched quietly on their snacks until they were gone, and Lexa nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt the book in her lap being lifted and Clarke's legs sliding underneath it. She looked over and saw Clarke smiling lightly at her as she wiggled herself back against the arm of the couch, and Lexa couldn't help but let her own smile tug at one corner of her mouth as she watched on.

“Is this okay?” Clarke asked hopefully.

Not trusting her ability to speak at that moment, Lexa simply nodded in response and lowered her book to rest lightly on Clarke's shins. She managed to stifle the gasp that threatened to sound from her chest as she felt the back of her hand brush against soft warm skin and tried to refocus her concentration back to her studies. Clarke lifted her sketchbook onto her lap and opened a small pack of pencils before turning to a fresh page and looking up at Lexa.

“Lexa?”

The brunette said nothing in response but turned her head to look at Clarke, her expression conveying expectation for Clarke to continue.

“Can I draw you?” She asked in a voice just above a whisper.

“You want... to... draw me?” Lexa asked choppily, her question broken by nervous gulps and rapid blinks.

It was almost as if Lexa had asked _why_ Clarke would want to draw her, which made Clarke's heart ache a little. She could hardly believe why such a beautiful girl like the one sitting beside her was so unsure of herself all the time, but Clarke decided to push those thoughts away for the time being so that she could offer an explanation.

“We were assigned to sketch a person in my Realism class,” Clarke said softly.

“Oh,” Lexa breathed, still not completely comfortable with the idea.

“No one except my professor will see it,” Clarke continued as she watched Lexa slide her glasses up her nose before picking at the corner of her Physics text book. “I could try and sketch someone else here, but they might leave.”

Lexa swallowed and nodded in understanding as her heart beat heavily in her chest. She had no idea why she was so nervous all of the sudden, but all she could seem to think about was the fact that Clarke would be staring at her, studying her, as she drew her. And for how long?

“Plus, I kind of already have you pinned,” Clarke teased as she pushed the heels of her feet into Lexa's hip as she bent her knees, tugging the two of them even closer to one another.

“Okay,” Lexa finally agreed, albeit hesitantly.

“As long as I'm not making you uncomfortable,” Clarke said as her smile grew.

“I'll be okay,” Lexa whispered.

Lexa felt herself lighten when she saw Clarke's widening smile turn into a toothy grin and couldn't stop the small blush that rose to her cheeks. She was tempted to hide her face but knew Clarke was about to start drawing as she noticed a pencil being taken from its case and brought up to the sketchbook in Clarke's lap.

“Can you blush like that the entire time?” Clarke teased flirtatiously, which only served to darken the color on Lexa's cheeks.

“Clarke,” Lexa warned weakly as she blinked her eyes in embarrassment.

“What?” Clarke asked rhetorically as she shrugged. “You're cute.”

Lexa said nothing in response, not even daring to look back at Clarke in fear that she might spontaneously combust, but let out a small sigh in an attempt to calm herself. Clarke just smiled lightly to herself before taking her own bottom lip between her teeth and beginning her drawing. After what felt like a few minutes but was in reality only several seconds, Lexa chanced a look up at Clarke who met her gaze immediately. The two shared bashful smirks before they each went back to their own assignment for the next hour until Clarke had finished her drawing, successfully pulling her out of her concentration bubble.

She glanced up to see Lexa looking down at her textbook, still completely immersed in her reading assignment, Clarke made quick work of closing her sketchbook and putting her pencils away. It wasn't until she had pulled her legs from Lexa's lap that Lexa looked up at her in question.

“Are you finished with your homework?” Clarke asked.

“Yes,” Lexa replied with a small nod. “I’ve just been working ahead.”

“Good,” Clarke said with a smirk, “because I want to show you something.”

“What is it?” Lexa asked immediately.

“If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise,” Clarke said as she continued packing up her things.

“I don't really like surprises,” Lexa confessed before closing her book tentatively.

“Why doesn't that _surprise_ me?” Clarke teased with a smirk playing at her lips. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Lexa nodded wordlessly and quickly packed her books into her bag before standing and fitting the thick strap around her shoulder to rest across her chest. She was pleasantly surprised when she felt Clarke's hand slip into her own but showed no indication of such as she allowed herself to be led away from their couch and towards the library's main doors. Even though Lexa had no idea where they were going and what or who would be there when they arrived, it all seemed completely irrelevant with the person she most adored by her side.

* * *

 

“Are you sure we're supposed to be here?” Lexa asked wearily as she looked around the dark and vacant hallway they were standing in.

“It's fine, Lexa,” Clarke assured her as she fiddled with the key in the door. “Becca told us we could come to the art studio whenever we wanted to.”

“Becca?” Lexa questioned.

“One of my art professors,” Clarke clarified. “She wants us to use her first name.”

Lexa nodded once in understanding but remained silent as Clarke continued to jiggle the key in the old lock, trying to get it lined up correctly so that it would release.

“She gave everyone their own key?” Lexa asked quietly as if the emptiness of the building was influencing the volume at which she spoke.

“Yep,” Clarke said as she popped the 'p' at the end of the word.

“Why?”

“You're asking a lot of questions,” Clarke pointed out with a teasing smirk as she nudged her hip against Lexa's.

As if she was struck with a brick wall of embarrassment, Lexa's expression fell and she took a step back while muttering an apology. She didn't want to come off as being annoying or mistrusting, but it had only been natural for Lexa to ask the questions she was given that it seemed like they were doing something against the rules.

“Wait, no, don't apologize,” Clarke responded immediately and reached out for the brunette. “I don't mind answering your questions.”

Lexa looked at her skeptically and remained silent so Clarke could continue.

“I know you're a naturally quiet person, but I like it when you talk,” Clarke said genuinely. “You should do it more often.”

Her statement was punctuated with a soft smile before she turned her attention back to her task at hand and muttered a small word in excitement as she finally unlocked the door and opened it. As the lights flickered to a steady brightness, Lexa looked around the studio carefully and was taken aback by the multitude of paintings that hung around almost every square inch of the expansive room. There were a few rows of easels clustered in the middle of the space, not too close together but not too far away either, and a small stage was set up beside the door they had just entered. Lexa figured it was for displaying whatever the subject was of the students' paintings and swallowed harshly at the thought of Clarke having to paint a nude model, which Lexa was sure was something she'd have to do at some point in the course of her studies.

“Paintings are often inspired by a muse,” Clarke said, breaking the silence, “and it's not often that an artist knows exactly when it will show up. That's why she gave us all keys.”

“You don't have your own easel in your dorm room?” Lexa questioned and immediately kicked herself for asking another question.

“Do you remember what my dorm room looks like?” Clarke said with a small chuckle. “There's barely enough space in there for me and Octavia let alone a giant easel.”

“Right,” Lexa said with a small nod.

She made her way over to one of the paintings hanging on the wall just to her right and positioned herself just inches away from it. Green eyes alight with awe trailed over the intricate ridges of thick paint strokes that blended perfectly together to create one of the most beautiful renderings of a starry night in the forest that she'd ever seen. Lexa barely stopped herself from reaching out and touching the canvas, wanting to feel the roughness of the paint beneath her fingers, and instead let out a breathy sigh as if she was too mesmerized to even speak.

“Did your professor paint all of these?” Lexa finally asked as she let her eyes wander around the studio.

_Another question, Woods? Really?_

“No, these were all done by students,” Clarke said as her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red than they already were.

Lexa turned her attention back to Clarke when she noticed the blush staining her pale skin and furrowed her brow slightly as if she was seeking an explanation as to what made Clarke so suddenly embarrassed. She watched as Clarke fiddled with the strap on her bag for a few moments before darting her eyes over to the painting Lexa had just been admiring.

“That one is mine,” she said quietly.

Lexa's gaze went back to the painting, and her mouth opened in surprise. No, scratch that. Her mouth opened in utter shock as she looked at the magnificent painting again before turning her face back towards Clarke.

“You painted this?” Lexa asked, apparently incapable of stopping her brain from letting questions tumble out of her mouth.

“Yes,” Clarke admitted softly. “It was one of my portfolio pieces I submitted for acceptance into the program.”

“It's beautiful,” Lexa said nervously while still managing to mentally high-five herself for being able to offer something other than a question.

“Thanks,” Clarke replied shyly as she dropped her gaze to the floor.

“Does every student get to display a painting?” Lexa asked.

Clarke shook her head but offered no words, almost as if she was holding herself back from gloating. Lexa quickly realized that Clarke had managed to impress her professor before she had participated in even one class and felt her chest swell with pride. She couldn't stop herself from smiling unabashedly at Clarke, even when her own cheeks tinted with pink, and they stood there in silence for a few moments just simply looking at each other.

“What?” Clarke finally said as she swayed from side to side and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Nothing, I...” Lexa tried to respond but felt the words die on her tongue at Clarke's adorable embarrassment.

“You what?” Clarke asked with a small smile, trying to coax an explanation from the brunette as she took a step closer.

“You're just...” Lexa tried again but failed as her compliment about how cute she thought Clarke was being was pushed down her throat as she swallowed.

“I'm what?” Clarke questioned hesitantly as if she was beginning to grow worried at Lexa's inability to explain herself.

“You're very talented, Clarke,” Lexa finally managed while the sound of her own heart hammered in her ears.

It all but burst from her chest when Lexa suddenly felt Clarke's lips against her own, and her eyes immediately closed as she lost herself in the moment and quickly told herself to begin memorizing the feeling of Clarke's mouth on hers. They stood connected for what was mutually agreed upon to be all too short before Clarke had pulled away only to propel herself forward again, capturing Lexa's lips in an even stronger kiss which Lexa happily accepted. It was still chaste as if Clarke was holding herself back and lasted for just a few more seconds until they slowly pulled apart, their lips making that delicious smacking sound that Lexa had grown to crave almost as much as the kisses themselves.

“As much as I'd really like to keep kissing you, there _is_ a security camera in here,” Clarke mumbled just a breath away from Lexa's lips.

In nothing longer than a flash Lexa had stepped away from Clarke and was searching the ceiling of the art studio trying to find the camera, prompting Clarke to giggle in amusement as she watched the nervous girl fidget with the strap of her messenger bag. Lexa wasn't sure what to think about first: the fact that Clarke had just told her she wanted to keep kissing her or that they had just given the campus security team a free, albeit short and innocent, show. She snapped out of her haze as Clarke reached over to squeeze her hand and smiled brightly.

“Sorry, I should have told you that earlier,” Clarke said with an apologetic look on her face.

“It's okay,” Lexa offered with a small nod of reassurance. “I just think... we shouldn't kiss anymore...”

Clarke's face fell as did the hand that was holding Lexa's until Lexa realized that what she had just said sounded so wrong from how she had wanted to say it.

“I mean, h–here...” Lexa quickly stammered out. “We can kiss somewhere else... if you wanted to...”

Clarke just stared back at Lexa for a moment as she watched the brunette's cheeks light up in a fiery blush that went all the way to the tops of her ears and noticed as green eyes widened a split second later before Lexa was speaking again.

“Not that I would assume... you'd even want to... I just...”

“Lexa,” Clarke interrupted the nervous girl with a gentle voice before she felt a strong sigh tickle her skin and blow a few pieces of her hair back.

“I'm sorry, Clarke,” Lexa said quietly as her eyes fluttered shut. “I just have a hard time thinking clearly when I'm with you.”

“Me too,” Clarke admitted with a small shrug.

“You do?” Lexa asked as she opened her eyes to look back at the blonde who just nodded in response. “It doesn't seem like it.”

“I guess I'm a decent actress then,” Clarke said with a small smirk.

Lexa let a relieved smile slip over her lips as she looked back at Clarke and inwardly appreciated that Clarke had not only validated her awkwardness but admitted to sharing it, even if she was much better at hiding it than Lexa was. They continued on their tour of the studio, stopping to discuss a few paintings along the way, and finally made it back outside into the fresh evening air. Their hands found one another’s again, and they walked together in a comfortable silence for a while before Clarke finally spoke up.

“So when are you going to officially declare you major?” Clarke asked as she looked over at Lexa. “I mean, it seems pretty obvious that you want to study _the beyond_.”

“The beyond?” Lexa questioned through a faint smirk as she looked over at Clarke.

“Yeah, you know... space,” Clarke began dramatically, “the final frontier.”

Lexa couldn’t help but let her smile grow as she watched Clarke paint a long arch in the sky to illustrate her description.

“I would be studying it, Clarke,” Lexa said quietly, “not exploring it.”

“Maybe one day you will,” Clarke replied with a small shrug.

A short silence fell between them while they continued walking as Lexa thought about what Clarke had said. It wasn’t that she would ever be opposed to exploring space but, if she was being completely honest with herself, it was something she had never even considered before. The idea that she might one day walk on the moon or pilot a spaceship sent shivers of excitement through her body, and Lexa felt herself biting back a dreamy smile as she imagined all the possibilities just waiting for her on the other side of the next four years. With a quiet clearing of her throat, she glanced back towards Clarke and spoke.

“I’ll probably meet with a program adviser this weekend,” Lexa said, at which Clarke just nodded and offered a small smile, and her heart began fluttering in her chest as she opened her mouth again. “What will you be doing this weekend?”

“I’m not sure,” Clarke replied genuinely before looking back over to Lexa with a mischievous look in her eye. “Why do you ask?”

Lexa swallowed nervously and tried not to fidget with Clarke’s hand in her own as she closed her eyes briefly and finally forced herself to speak.

“Would you... like to... go to a movie... on Saturday?”

There it was.

Time seemed to have slowed to a complete stop for Lexa as she chanced a tentative look over at Clarke who looked as though she was trying not to smile. Suddenly Lexa was terrified that she had made a grave mistake in asking what she had just asked and wondered for just a split second if Clarke was trying to hide her smile because she was trying not to appear too amused that she had just been asked out. On a date. By Lexa. The brunette swallowed again, feeling her heart rate increase significantly and the embarrassment start to creep in, but all thought was lost the moment she saw Clarke’s sparkling blue eyes looking back at her.

“I’d love to,” Clarke said, not trying to stop the smile from stretching her lips any longer.

They held a steady gaze for a few seconds as they continued to walk slowly until Lexa realized it was her turn to speak. Her brain sputtered for a moment as she tried to form a response but didn’t do a very good job of it, and Clarke broke the silence when she realized Lexa wasn’t speaking up.

“I thought _I'd_ have to be the one to ask _you_ out on our first date,” Clarke said with a teasing smirk, “which I was going to do soon, by the way.”

Just the way the words ‘first date’ sounded coming out of Clarke’s mouth had Lexa’s stomach doing flip-flops and the excitement over the fact that she had actually successfully asked someone out momentarily eclipsed her nervousness of the impending date from taking over her thoughts. They continued walking hand-in-hand until they reached Clarke’s building and only parted after Clarke planted a meaningful kiss on the brunette’s cheek. She smiled dreamily at Lexa before bidding her a good night and headed up towards her dorm room reveling in the fact that she had just been asked out on a date by the person she adored more than anyone in the world, and nothing could bring her down.

“I have a date with a beautiful–”

Clarke began to sing as she swung her dorm room door open but stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at her roommate lying casually on her bed.

“You have a date with Lexa?” Octavia asked excitedly. “Awesome!”

“Octavia,” Clarke said, her eyes widening in shock as she scanned the room, “what the hell?”

“ _I said awe-some_ ,” Octavia repeated herself slowly. “So tell me how it happened. Who asked who? Where are you going and when? Do we need to come up with a sock on the doorknob system?”

Clarke just blinked a few times before she dragged her gaze back to her friend who was acting as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

“What the hell is going on?” Clarke asked, still clearly in shock. “What happened to all of our stuff?!”

The brunette looked around from the left side of the room as if everything was as it had been before, but in reality their originally claimed sides had been switched from the more obvious items like the beds and textbooks on the shelves above them down to the items in their desks and the clothes in their closet. Clarke hastily closed the top drawer of what had just that morning been Octavia’s desk after finding her art supplies inside and looked back up to her best friend once again.

“You switched sides? Seriously?” Clarke asked in a huff as she propped her fists high onto her hips. “All because you couldn’t handle a little morning sun on your face?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Clarke,” Octavia said with a shrug before turning her attention back down to her phone that was in her lap.

“You are _such_ a child,” Clarke said as she threw her hands in the air and closed their door.

“I’m not a child,” Octavia argued as she pointed her index finger towards her own chest. “I take initiative.”

“Yeah, like the initiative you took the second we saw our room and pushed me out of the way so you could claim the side with the window?” Clarke asked as she made her way to their closet to pull out her sleep clothes.

“Potato, potahto,” Octavia replied with a dramatic shoulder shrug and roll of her eyes.

“You’re unbelievable,” Clarke muttered as she began to undress quickly.

“Are you going to tell me about your upcoming date or not?” Octavia asked as she moved herself onto her side and propped her chin against her hand.

“No,” Clarke said with a small pout on her face before ripping her bedding away and slipping underneath it to get comfortable for an evening of lounging.

“Who’s the child now?” Octavia asked through an amused smirk, glad that her prank had worked to get the blonde riled up.

“Whatever.”

Octavia just snorted out a small laugh at her best friend’s grumpy behavior and turned her attention back to her phone. They both laid there in silence before Octavia finally broke it.

“How the hell was I supposed to know how the sun would shine in on the room?” She asked as her eyes widened in effect. “I mean, part of the reason I chose that side in the first place was because I thought it would be on _your_ face in the morning.”

The pillow that was hurled through the air directly at Octavia’s head was all that needed to be said.

* * *

 

Lexa huffed out a sigh of frustration as she stood in front of her side of the closet in her dorm room, flipping helplessly through shirt after shirt and not finding anything she liked. Not that she even knew what she was looking for since she had absolutely no idea what to wear. Saturday night, Clarke and Lexa’s date night, had come way too soon and Lexa found herself quickly slipping past nervous mode to all out panic mode as the time drew closer and closer to when she was supposed to be meeting Clarke. The second she picked up her phone to text Anya for some of her sometimes questionable but always somewhat effective sisterly advice, Raven walked into their room with a piece of pizza in one hand and what looked to be a small electric motor in the other hand.

“This has been the best day ever,” Raven enthused as she held up the items she was holding. “Free pizza and free parts!”

“Parts for what?” Lexa questioned, only half interested at that point.

“I don’t know yet,” Raven said with a small shrug, “but I’m sure I’ll think of something to do with it.”

Lexa just nodded and turned back towards the closet as Raven took a bite from her slice of pizza and eyed the fidgety brunette. It wasn’t long after Lexa let out another defeated sigh that Raven was by her side, still chomping happily on her late lunch.

“What’s up?” Raven asked vaguely.

“Nothing,” Lexa replied quietly as she tugged one of her favorite plaid shirts from its hanger.

Raven crossed her arms over her chest the best she could while still propping up her hand holding the pizza in front of her mouth and took another casual bite as she narrowed her eyes. She silently studied Lexa for just a moment before speaking again.

“Seriously, what’s happening here?” Raven asked as she poked her head into Lexa’s field of vision.

“I...” Lexa started and then stopped before she sighed again, loudly. “I’m trying to figure out what to wear.”

“For what?” Raven asked after swallowing her last bite of pizza.

“For... a date,” Lexa said tentatively as she looked over at Raven.

“Oh my gosh,” Raven started dramatically, “you’re finally going on a date with the girl you don’t know if you’re dating or not?”

“Um, yeah,” Lexa replied, “I guess so.”

“Okay, so where are you going?” Raven said as she stepped in front of Lexa and began looking through her clothes.

“To a movie,” Lexa told her.

“Anywhere else?” Raven asked as she took the plaid shirt from Lexa’s hands and hung it back up.

“No,” Lexa said as her mind began to race.

_Where else would we go? Should I have planned to bring her somewhere else?_

“Plaid is probably fine for a movie date, but not for a _first date_ movie date,” Raven explained as she turned around to start digging through her own clothes and stealing a few glances up and down Lexa’s body as if she was sizing her up. “How are you planning to wear your hair?”

“Down, I guess,” Lexa said as she slid her fingers through it loosely but second-guessed her answer when she saw Raven eye her questioningly. “Up? I don’t know...”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine,” Raven assured her before yanking two different shirts from their hangers and handing them to Lexa to try them on.

Lexa pulled the shirt she was wearing off (after Raven had gotten her subtle hint and turned back around) and slipped on one of the shirts she’d been given. It was tight and didn’t feel quite right against her skin, and Lexa was happy that Raven didn’t seem to thrilled with it either. She moved on to try the next shirt, and both girls seemed to approve of it as long as Lexa was reading the expression on Raven’s face correctly. It was a floppy denim shirt, just loose enough to look stylish but not too big that it looked sloppy, and Raven moved quickly to roll up the sleeves onto Lexa’s forearms before slipping the knots up past her elbows. After being instructed to put on a pair of Raven’s white jean shorts, Lexa shimmied them up her bare legs and stood silently as she waited for her roommate’s final decision.

“I was thinking about wearing contacts,” Lexa told Raven, suddenly craving the other girl’s opinion since it seemed she had a lot of experience on how to look and how not to look on a date.

“You have contacts?” Raven questioned as she grabbed one of her clear storage bin from the top shelf of her side of the closet that appeared to be completely filled with shoes.

“Yeah, I don’t wear them a lot,” Lexa said and then offered a weak shrug. “Glasses are just easier.”

“I’d suggest you wear your hair up then,” Raven said as she took a pair of gray ankle boots out of the storage bin. “It will bring more attention to your kind of annoyingly beautiful face.”

Lexa scrunched her eyebrows at the comment and looked over at her roommate out of the corner of her eye, hoping she would clarify what it was that she meant.

“What?” Raven asked as she shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not like I’m hitting on your or anything, but hello I do have eyes you know.”

A faint blush tickled the tops of Lexa’s cheeks as she realized what Raven had said to her was, in fact, a compliment and moved her hand up to readjust her glasses shyly. Her attention was drawn back to Raven when she saw the pair of shoes being wiggled in front of her face, but they were quickly dropped back into the storage bin when Raven watched Lexa’s face distort ever-so-slightly in disapproval. Raven rolled her eyes when Lexa happily took the pair of brown leather flip flops without any hesitation, and they two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they worked on pinning Lexa’s hair up and painting Lexa’s toes a subtle blush color before the time came for Lexa to head out and meet Clarke in the parking lot.

They had agreed to have Clarke drive them to the theater since it would have been too far to walk to, but Lexa already had it decided that the rest of the date was her responsibility. So to speak. She walked towards Clarke’s familiar jeep and took long, even breaths along the way so that she wasn’t panting by the time she climbed in since the pounding of her heart was doing nothing to help. Clarke was an absolute vision if Lexa had ever seen one. The way her curly blonde hair flowed down her neck to kiss the top of her shoulders made her look almost angelic, and whatever Clarke had done differently with her makeup made her blue eyes seem to sparkle even more than they usually did. Lexa was relieved to see that Clarke was also wearing shorts, blue denim ones, with a white camisole and what appeared to be an incredibly soft and perfectly oversized cardigan sweater.

“What?” Clarke said with a grin spreading across her face as Lexa settled into her seat.

Lexa said nothing as she clipped her seatbelt and looked over at Clarke questioningly. She honestly had no idea what Clarke was asking about and rather than say something stupid as her first words on her first date, Lexa remained silent and hoped Clarke would take it upon herself to clarify why she was asking her rather open-ended question.

“You’re blushing,” Clarke pointed out. “What are you thinking about?”

It was her time to talk. To say something. To make words come out of her mouth.

“You're pretty,” Lexa said and almost fainted at the words that had slipped directly from her brain and stumbled out past her lips. "I mean... I was thinking about... how pretty you look."

She stared over at Clarke as her blush darkened and waited nervously for a response.

“You’re one to talk,” Clarke said quietly as she looked over at Lexa. “You look gorgeous, Lexa.”

“I, uh...” Lexa stammered as she tried to control the heat on her face from consuming her, “Raven... gave me her clothes.”

Clarke just chuckled lightly as she sat back lazily in her seat, and Lexa looked over at her in question.

“This is Octavia’s sweater,” Clarke said and pointed at herself.

Lexa let a small smile break over her lips, and the two girls sat there in silence for a few moments.

“Let’s make it a point to pick out our own clothes next time,” Clarke said as her chest clenched with anticipation of how Lexa would react to her already implying a second date.

She smiled when she saw the realization rush over Lexa’s face and couldn’t help the way the butterflies in her stomach began to swirl around happily when she watched the brunette’s blush spread to the tips of her ears before breaking eye contact. Without another word, Clarke slipped her truck into gear and slowly drove away from the front of Lexa’s dorm. The drive to the theater was done in silence, as both girls were seemingly just a bit too nervous to carry on a lengthy conversation, and they pulled into the parking lot with just over fifteen minutes to spare before their showtime.

As they made their way towards the front doors, Clarke could tell that Lexa was debating whether or not to grab her hand by the way she walked stiffly beside her and had to bite back a smile when the brunette finally gathered up the courage to entwine their fingers. It felt like the most natural thing on Earth for Clarke to be holding Lexa’s hand, and she wondered for a moment if Lexa felt the same way. Lexa might have realized she did indeed feel the same way, but her attention was focused more on the fact that she had chosen a moment to take hold of Clarke’s hand that would afford them the least amount of time to remain connected as their walk from the jeep to the theater wasn’t very lengthy.

Regardless, Lexa allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of Clarke’s warm skin against hers until they were just feet away from the theater doors. With a small burst of energy, Lexa detached their hands to take a step ahead so that she could pull the door and hold it open for Clarke to walk through, just as any old-fashioned gentlewoman would do. The cute little smile that Clarke threw Lexa’s way as she stepped past her was enough to send Lexa’s heart rate straight up into the clouds, and they found their spots next to each other in the ticket line quickly thereafter.

Clarke almost hugged Lexa after the way she requested two tickets, her voice audibly shaking with the nervousness running through her body. Lexa was _still_ having trouble believing that she was on a date with Clarke Griffin, former most popular girl at Arkadia High, and that it wasn’t a trick or a cruel twist of fate or a long drawn-out prank. Clarke Griffin and Lexa Woods were on a date, a real date, and it was as if all was right in the world that night.

“I think they have cotton candy here,” Lexa said quietly as they made their way over to the concession counter.

She may or may not have noticed it listed on the movie theater’s website.

“I love cotton candy!” Clarke exclaimed and nearly hopped with joy.

Lexa smiled dreamily as she watched Clarke’s face light up before looking back down to the tickets she was fidgeting with in her hands. They found themselves standing in line again, in silence, until Clarke turned herself towards Lexa and spoke seriously.

“I can pay for our snacks,” Clarke said, “since you paid for the tickets.”

“No, I...” Lexa immediately began to protest, “I... wanted to pay for everything... since I was the one who asked _you_ on the date.”

“I don’t want you to feel obligated–”

“Really, Clarke,” Lexa interrupted hastily, “it–it would make me feel better.”

Clarke finally relented with an appreciative smile, and after a five minute wait they walked away with a large bucket of popcorn, two fountain drinks, a bag of licorice, and giant ball of pink cotton candy. The theater was busy, as it would be expected on a Saturday night, but they were able to find two seats in what Lexa thought was a prime location about four rows up from the back of the theater and directly in the middle of the screen.

They settled into their squeaky but comfortable chairs and folded the shared armrest up so that they wouldn’t have to reach over it to grab for the popcorn during the movie. They didn’t hold hands or attempt sneaky stretch-to-cuddle moves, but their fingers did manage to brush up against one another’s every so often when they reached into the giant tub of popcorn for another fistful. It was sweet and awkward and absolutely perfect.

Lexa had a few pieces of her licorice left, and there was a small ball of cotton candy in the bottom of the plastic bag it came in so they decided to keep their leftovers to enjoy throughout the rest of the weekend instead of just throwing them in the trash as they noticed a lot of other theater attendees were doing. Clarke smiled when Lexa managed to hold the door open for her again, although it was slightly more difficult to do so on the way out, and they joined hands naturally as they made the short journey back to Clarke’s jeep to ultimately take them back to the Polis University campus for the remainder of the evening.

“So I guess this is the part where I tell you I had a really nice time tonight,” Clarke said with a shy smile after they had come to stand just outside of Lexa’s dorm room door.

“Me too,” Lexa said in a voice just above a whisper.

Clarke stepped the tiniest bit closer, and Lexa felt herself swallow nervously as sparkling blue eyes trailed down her face until they settled on her lips. Their faces hovered within a breath's length, and Lexa felt her eyes flutter closed the second Clarke pressed their lips together. It always seemed as if time slowed whenever they kissed and Lexa held herself suspended in the moment, holding her breath and not moving her lips, as she wrote to memory every sensation she could discern before finally lifting her hands to find a gentle grip on Clarke's hips.

A small moan escaped from Clarke's lips when she felt Lexa begin to respond to the kiss, and she let herself sink even further into the brunette's arms as the intimacy of their moment intensified. They explored each other carefully, cautiously, until Lexa pulled their bodies so close that their legs intertwined. The feeling of Clarke's warm and soft skin brushing up against the smoothness of her own thigh sent explosions of excitement through Lexa's chest, and her fingers twitched restlessly against Clarke's hips.

She was so lost in the feeling of Lexa's lips moving tenderly against her own that Clarke didn't even realize her own hands had been hanging uselessly by her sides until she felt Lexa's move from her waist up to tangle in her hair. Their kiss deepened and hot breaths spilled from both of their mouths as each girl silently indulged in the emotions that seemed to simply pour out of the other, bringing them closer than ever yet still not nearly close enough.

Just as Clarke's brain suggested she push Lexa up against the wall to feel her body pressed tightly against hers, it was her lungs that stopped her from doing any such thing. As she tugged her lips away from Lexa's and both girls were left searching desperately for air, Clarke was glad she had stopped the kiss when she did because what she saw would end up being the inspiration for countless future paintings she'd create.

Lexa was looking back at her with the most impassioned gaze Clarke had ever seen and was almost rendered breathless for the second time. Even with her glasses, but especially without, Lexa's eyes were like the windows to her soul. No emotion, no feeling could hide itself within the endless emerald orbs, and it wasn't lost on Clarke that she was probably –hopefully– the only person to be experiencing that level of intimacy with her.

“I cannot _wait_ to do that again,” Clarke whispered into the stillness of the evening.

Lexa pulled her eyes up from where they were staring at Clarke's lips and swallowed as she felt herself getting lost in Clarke's eyes.

“The kiss,” Lexa began nervously, “or the date?”

Clarke looked at her for just a moment before a small smirk played at the corners of her mouth, and she leaned back in to whisper against Lexa's lips.

“Both.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clexa first date ♥ Evil Professor Pike needed to make an appearance (he will also come up again later in the series), and Mr. Kane is back! I'd also had that library scene in my head for a LONG TIME, so it was really fun to finally be able to write it out. Hope you guys enjoyed this one... next chapter will hopefully be a doozie!
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy and Tumblr MsDorisDaisy)


	3. Part Three

“ **FUCKING HELL!** ”  
  
Octavia shot straight up in her bed, her blanket and sheets flailing wildly with the erratic movement of her limbs as a hellish host of glaringly loud alarms sounded from all directions around her. She was initially wrenched from the depths of her slumber by a lone alarm that sounded obnoxious enough to have come straight from an air horn, and it wasn't seconds later that a multitude of other equally as obnoxious sounds were set off in different points around the room.  
  
“What the fucking fuck?!” Octavia shouted as she tumbled out of her bed, just then noticing Clarke's side of the room was vacant.  
  
She stormed around the room, turning off the blaring alarms as she found them, and cursed her best friend under her breath the entire time. Octavia blinked tiredly as her gaze landed on the tiny window above Clarke’s desk and saw a newly installed curtain rod with thick navy blue curtains hanging from it which effectively blocked out any and all of the dangerous morning rays from boiling the eyeballs of whoever had been doomed to sleep in the bed on the right side of the room. Octavia rolled her eyes. Of course Clarke would think of a much more simple and far less selfish solution than sneakily switching their sides of the room.  
  
But soon enough, another wave of irritation came crashing down on Octavia as she continued to silence the ringing alarms, the last one of which she found tucked away inside one of her desk drawers. It had certainly been an answer to the room switching prank, and Octavia all but confirmed that as she read a handwritten note from Clarke that had been taped to the back of their dorm room door.  
  
_Dear Octavia,_  
  
_I was worried you wouldn’t get up on time since you no longer have your morning sunshine wakeup call, so I set an alarm for you. You’re welcome!_  
  
_Love, Clarke_  
  
The cranky brunette snatched the note from the door and crumpled it into a ball before tossing it into the trash can underneath her desk and flopping herself back down onto her bed now that the room had been silenced once again. Octavia couldn’t help the chuckle that vibrated in her throat as she dismissed Clarke’s attempt at a prank as being a little short-lived but wasn’t denying the fact she was happy it was. That way she could manage to sneak in a few extra minutes of sleep before she actually _had_ to get up. It wasn’t until another round of blaring sounds rang simultaneously around the room that Octavia flew into a state of rage.  
  
“Mother fucking hell bucket!” She screamed as she leaped off her bed and stomped back around to each of the offending alarms.  
  
Taking an extra few seconds at each of them along the way, Octavia flicked out their batteries to make sure she wouldn’t be interrupted again before flinging herself angrily back down onto her mattress with a thud. She pulled her pillow over her head and breathed deeply, trying to calm her mildly racing heart enough to be able to find her way back into dreamland where she had so desperately wanted to be in the first place. She was teetering on the edge of being awake and being asleep, just about ready to fall over into slumber once again, a delayed alarm began to fire off a shrill buzz from beneath her bed.  
  
“Son of a _bitch_!” Octavia screamed and threw her pillow across the room before reaching under her bed and hurling the sounding alarm against the floor, successfully smashing it into pieces and ending its miserable inanimate life.  
  
**Baby Blake: I hate you.**  
  
Octavia didn’t even bother to wait for a response from Clarke and threw her phone down onto her bed before rummaging through her side of the closet to find her shampoo and a fresh pair of clothes for the day. She made her way down to the showers shared by everyone on her floor of the dorm building and slipped under a steamy stream of water as quickly as she possibly could. Her morning had gotten off to an annoying start, thanks to the prank her supposed best friend pulled on her, but she told herself that it was nothing a good (and tall) cup of coffee couldn’t fix. Since that was practically her answer for everything.  
  
As she toweled off the last remaining droplets of water from her body, Octavia couldn’t help but let her mind wander to thoughts of her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend? The guy she'd been dating and was most likely in love with. Him. They had decided, mutually, to take a break from their relationship over the school year, something that Octavia may or may not had been regretting since the second they had officially decided it, but lingering doubts of whether Lincoln had actually _wanted_ to take a break had been rolling around in Octavia’s head continuously.  
  
It _had_ been her idea initially. She had admitted, at least to herself, that she was scared of what the distance apart would do to her relationship with Lincoln especially after what she had seen distance do to her own parents all those years ago. A lifetime of being told ‘you have your father’s eyes’ and ‘that is exactly what your father would say’ and ‘you are definitely your father’s daughter’ certainly weighted her assumption of how she would inevitably screw up her relationship with Lincoln at some point, so calling a time out before she managed to break his heart seemed like the only logical option.  
  
Sure she had Clarke if she needed a shoulder to cry on or an encouraging pep-talk, but there was something about Lincoln that touched her soul, somewhere deep inside where no one else could ever manage to reach. Not her mother, not her brother, not Clarke or anyone else. The weight of that alone was enough to make Octavia feel trapped at times, not knowing how or having the maturity yet to use it to make her feel free instead. Aaand of course it didn’t help the longing in her heart the fact that Lincoln was just about the most gorgeous man Octavia had ever seen in her life. Nope, didn’t help it at all.  
  
After a final brush of her fingers through wet hair, Octavia gathered her things and headed back to her room to pack her bag with the textbooks she needed for the day and to swing by Grounders for that cup of coffee she so desperately needed. She picked up her phone and unlocked it quickly, noticing immediately there was a text message from Clarke that had come in when she was busy getting ready for the day.  
  
**MsGriffster: You love every inch of me, Octavia Blake.**  
  
Octavia snorted out something akin to an annoyed laugh and rolled her eyes in disbelief. It was true that she loved the girl, but damn did the blonde ever know how to ruffle her feathers. A sneaky smirk played across Octavia’s lips as she thought about how she’d get Clarke back for her noisy little prank and locked up their dorm room on her way out. Scheming thoughts immediately gave way the moment she saw a new message light up her phone, and a sigh escaped her lungs as she read it.  
  
**Lincoln: I miss you.**  
  
Octavia wasn’t sure what pulled at her heartstrings her more: the fact that she was reminded of how she had changed his name in her phone back to something generic from whatever cute play on words she’d thought up that time or the fact that he was missing her from so many miles away. Her heart clenched uneasily in her chest as she locked her phone and pushed it into a pocket, more determined than ever to get the sweet relief of caffeine pumping through her veins. Fate, however, had plans to continue her torturous morning as it brought her face-to-annoying-face with the one girl Octavia hoped to attain professional skills at avoiding.  
  
“Ugh,” Octavia muttered as she tipped her head back in defeat, “why are you always here?”  
  
“I work here, genius,” Raven snapped as she tugged on her ‘Grounders’ apron looped around her neck and tied loosely at her waist.  
  
“The universe hates me,” Octavia deadpanned as she looked Raven squarely in the eyes.  
  
“It’s about to hate you even more if you piss me off enough to make me spit in your coffee,” Raven warned, “which is already about point two seconds away from happening.”  
  
Octavia stared at the fellow student for a few beats before drawing in a deep breath and sighing loudly.  
  
“Tall mocha latte,” the weary brunette ordered, “extra shot of espresso.”  
  
“Tall mocha latte extra shot of espresso, what?” Raven asked, passively requesting a ‘please’ from the girl.  
  
“Now,” Octavia offered instead which earned her a subtle glare from the barista.  
  
“I wasn’t kidding about the spit,” Raven told Octavia as she punched her order into the cash register.  
  
Octavia said nothing in response and handed over a five dollar bill before walking down to the opposite end of the counter, not bothering to wait for her change. She figured the tip would be just enough to stave off any extra bodily fluids from making their way into her drink and waited patiently for her coffee while hoping the universe was done meddling with her happiness, or lack thereof, for at least the morning.  
  


* * *

 

“Is this too loud?” Clarke asked hesitantly as she gestured towards her laptop.  
  
“No,” Lexa assured her and shook her head lightly.  
  
The fact of the matter was that Lexa was more worried about her erratic heartbeat being louder than the baseball game playing on Clarke’s computer, and it continued to pound away in her chest while she was trying to focus on the homework in her lap. After Clarke had finished her own homework, she had requested a little cuddle time while she watched her game as long as it wouldn’t distract Lexa from finishing her reading. Lexa had discovered long ago that she could block the entire world happenings out of her mind while she read, but somehow the simple proximity of the blonde was making every one of her concentration skills fly out the metaphorical window.  
  
They had retreated to Lexa’s dorm room for their evening study session, which upon entering Lexa thought Clarke was going to have a stroke by her reaction to how much better building eight was than building two, and proceeded to spend about an hour working in a comfortable silence. Lexa hadn’t minded at all when Clarke asked if she could pull up the live-stream of her favorite baseball team playing against their known rivals, but it was when she felt her legs being parted and Clarke scooting in between them to rest her back against Lexa’s front that the brunette felt herself tense.  
  
It wasn’t a bad tensing sensation, much the opposite in fact, but Lexa was having just about the most difficult time of her life trying to keep herself mentally and physically in check each time she felt a subtle movement from Clarke’s hips against her thighs or a faint brush of Clarke’s fingers along her calves. They had found themselves in each other’s presence more often than not in the week following their first official date, and Lexa continually found herself drowning in the effects of Clarke’s physical touches. Wonderfully, deliciously drowning.  
  
“Just let me know if it gets too loud,” Clarke pressed on, “because I don’t want to distract you from your reading.”  
  
_You already are, but I love it so please don’t stop._  
  
“I don’t have much left,” Lexa replied softly and watched as Clarke nodded in acknowledgment.  
  
Despite the fact that she _was_ actually enjoying the poem she was reading for her English class, Lexa couldn’t help let her eyes wander to the laptop screen beside her and try to remember if the game she had gone to with Clarke was anything like what she was watching. Her eyebrows scrunched together carefully as she watched the player that was at bat strike out and then run lazily to first base while the catcher threw the ball to the first baseman. She was sure that a player didn’t need to run to a base after they’d struck out, in fact, she thought the whole point of striking out was that the player was _unable_ to take a base.  
  
“Here I thought you put up with baseball because of me,” Clarke teased when she caught sight of Lexa watching the game intently. “Are you a secret sports lover?”  
  
“No, I...” Lexa stuttered with embarrassment of being caught, “I was just... momentarily distracted.”  
  
“Mhmm,” Clarke hummed in response as she turned her attention back to the game.  
  
A few more stolen and spotted glances later, Clarke took it upon herself to begin explaining a few of the more minute details of the game to Lexa who didn’t seem to mind taking a break from her reading at all. She tried not to grin like a goofy grade schooler with a crush every time she would feel Lexa lean in for a slightly better look at the screen or shiver when she could feel Lexa’s hot breath tickling the nape of her neck when she spoke, and it wasn’t until the dorm room door was opening that either girl remembered there was a world outside of the two of them.  
  
“Hello,” Raven drawled while a slow smirk spread across her face as she looked at the cuddling couple.  
  
Lexa swallowed thickly, unsure and uneasy about whatever was bound to come out of Raven’s mouth, and tried not to fidget as she watched the brunette deposited her textbooks onto her desk and made her way over towards Lexa’s bed.  
  
“You,” Raven began as she eyed Clarke cautiously, “must be Clarke.”  
  
“That’s me,” Clarke said through a small smile.  
  
“Good,” Raven said as she limped over to the closet, “because I would be seriously questioning your girlfriend’s respectability if you weren’t the girl she drones on about almost every waking moment of her life.”  
  
Clarke bit back a smirk as she turned her head around to look at Lexa who was doing her best to impersonate a tomato at the way her cheeks lit up with her roommate’s (maybe slightly exaggerated) confession. A pointed bob of Lexa’s throat as she swallowed again let Clarke know just how nervous the girl behind her must have been and felt her heart flip in her chest at the implication. They certainly hadn’t made their girlfriends title official yet, but it was clearly something they were headed towards which made Clarke nearly giggle with giddiness.  
  
“I’m Raven, the roommate,” Raven said as she reappeared from the closet, “obviously.”  
  
“Nice to meet you,” Clarke said as she turned her head away from Lexa and gave another polite smile to the mechanics student.  
  
“So I heard you’re in building two,” Raven said as she clipped a necklace around her neck. “Bummer.”  
  
“Yeah,” Clarke agreed. “I can’t believe how much bigger your rooms are than ours.”  
  
“Meaning I’ll probably be seeing you here more often than you’ll be spending time in your own room?” Raven teased as she shrugged on the red jacket she wore at every chance she could.  
  
“Probably,” Clarke said with a shrug and a smile.  
  
“Remind me later to come up with a sock on the doorknob system for us,” Raven told Lexa who blushed again at her roommate’s words.  
  
Clarke said nothing as she bit back another smile and let her eyes wander back to the baseball game playing on her laptop.  
  
“Not that I wouldn’t like to stay and chat,” Raven said as she looked back at Clarke, “but I kind of know everything about you already, so I’ll just let you kids get back to it.”  
  
And with that, Raven was gone and the only sound that filled the room was the cheering of the crowds coming from the speakers on Clarke’s computer as the home team scored a run. Not another minute passed before Clarke was back to explaining a few more rules of the game until she was confident the brunette behind her had a decent grasp of all the concepts that made baseball what it was.  
  
“What makes you like it so much?” Lexa heard herself ask after a few moments of silence had fallen between them “Baseball, I mean.”  
  
“It’s one of the only sports my mom enjoys watching with my dad,” Clarke replied quickly, “so we went to a lot of games as a family growing up. I guess it just kind of stuck with me after all these years.”  
  
Lexa nodded in understanding but didn’t say anything in response.  
  
“What about you?” Clarke asked as she turned her head to look back at Lexa. “Was there anything you did with your dad and sister growing up that you still do today?”  
  
Lexa fell silent as she reflected carefully on the question that Clarke had just asked her. She’d always considered herself to be close with both her sister _and_ her father, but she began to feel somewhat uncomfortable at the fact that she was having trouble coming up with an answer. A good answer. Uneasiness twisted in her belly as she worked her mind around the fact that maybe Clarke wasn’t looking for a good answer but rather just _an_ answer. It was a conversation, a chat between friends, and Lexa realized that maybe (most likely) she was putting too much stress on herself to come up with the _perfect_ answer. She thought for a few more moments as Clarke quickly lifted herself from between Lexa’s leg and moved to sit beside her, propping her back comfortably against the pillows at the head of the bed.  
  
“Family dinners,” Lexa finally replied in a soft voice and chanced a shy glance over at Clarke. “We have them every night.”  
  
“Sounds nice,” Clarke said as a gentle smile tugged at her lips.  
  
“My dad loves to cook,” Lexa heard herself continue, despite her nerves screaming at her to stop. “He has taught me how to make a few things. Pretty much all Anya can do is scramble eggs.”  
  
Clarke chuckled and felt her chest flutter with excitement as she imagined Lexa cooking for her someday. Visions of a romantic candlelit dinner swept through her mind, and Clarke couldn’t stop the faint smirk that began to appear that Lexa seemed to notice immediately as her gaze fell and began to reciprocate the smile unknowingly. Clarke bit down lightly on the inside of her bottom lip to keep herself from grinning like an idiot to daydreams of her and Lexa living happily ever after and cleared her throat lightly.  
  
“Well, she’s one ahead of me in that department,” Clarke began with a small shrug. “I can barely boil water.”  
  
Lexa let a small smile fall onto her lips but said nothing in response. She mentally kicked herself for not being able to suggest she could teach Clarke how to cook, but it was as if she had reached her word limit for at least the time being and everything she was wanting to say died on her tongue before she could actually say it. Instead she found herself flicking her gaze between Clarke’s eyes and her mouth as they began to breathe against one another’s lips, completely unaware that they had drifted so closely together until the sight of Clarke’s tongue peeking from her mouth to wet her lips brought Lexa out of her stupor. She began to increase the distance between them just as Clarke whispered.  
  
“Can I kiss you?”  
  
No verbal response was given before Lexa was propelling herself back towards the blonde and capturing Clarke’s lips with her own. She brought her hand up to lightly rest against the back of Clarke’s neck, nearly coming undone as she felt the vibrations of Clarke’s moan as they explored one another lightly at first and then more deeply. Their lips pushed and pulled, and Lexa didn’t even realize that she had wound her fingers into Clarke’s hair as she was consumed by the feeling of their mouths dancing so intimately together.  
  
Lexa tried, she really did, to hold back the whimper brought forth by the tiny nibble of Clarke’s teeth against her bottom lip, but she was powerless to stop it as tumbled free and lingered in the air for a moment before Clarke’s attention returned to aforementioned bottom lip with renewed vigor. Lexa’s hand fell from the depths of golden locks as Clarke swung her leg around Lexa’s waist to straddle her without breaking the momentum of their kiss. Having no idea how or when they got there, Lexa tightened her grip on Clarke’s hips as they continued to lose themselves in each other for several long minutes.  
  
Her skin was burning, heated from the inside out, and Lexa’s mind was racing at about the same pace her heart was. It was the farthest thing from the truth if Lexa said she wanted to stop kissing Clarke Griffin, but she was quickly coming to realize just how desperate she was. Their kiss intensified as Clarke took her turn winding her fingers into Lexa’s hair, occasionally bumping the tips of her glasses behind her ears as they shifted the angle of their heads, until the heat coiling deep in Lexa’s stomach spread to her lungs as they began to ache from lack of proper oxygenation.  
  
Lexa ripped her lips from Clarke’s reluctantly but hastily and began heaving for breath, her eyes still closed and her swollen lips parted in a daze. Clarke was panting too, and her hands were still woven deeply in Lexa’s wavy hair as she tried not to concentrate too hard on the rhythmic throbbing between her legs.  
  
“Clarke, I...” Lexa began breathlessly, “I... n–need to breathe.”  
  
It was a lie. Well, a partial lie. Although the lack of air in her lungs had prompted her to pull away from the kiss, Lexa was also selfishly taking the time to pace herself. To distance herself from the way Clarke made her feel intoxicated with just a simple look or brush of their lips. Lexa knew it was too fast, too soon, but she wanted it. Lexa wanted it so badly but couldn’t bear the thought of rejection or offense to her eagerness, her desire, her insatiable thirst for everything Clarke.  
  
“Sorry,” Clarke whispered as she moved her hands down to Lexa’s shoulders and leaned their foreheads together. “I guess I got a little carried away.”  
  
“It’s okay,” Lexa quickly reassured her, “I... I like kissing you... like that.”  
  
“Yeah?” Clarke questioned as a sneaky grin tugged at her lips while she locked gazes with Lexa.  
  
Lexa simply nodded in reply and swallowed thickly as Clarke eased her way from off her lap and back down to the bed beside her. She almost whined at the feeling of loss as her hands released their hold on Clarke’s hips but quickly responded with a smile when Lexa felt the fingers of her left hand being tangled with the fingers of Clarke’s right.  
  
“I guess we will have to do it again sometime,” Clarke said as a slight rasp overcame her voice.  
  
And do it again they did.  
  


* * *

 

Their second date turned into a third, then a sixth and seventh, until Clarke and Lexa found themselves in each other’s presence more often than not. It was almost as if their lives had suddenly meshed together, without so much as single discussion about it, and neither of them were even close to complaining about it. Clarke still walked with Octavia to their Monday morning classes, and Lexa found time to chat with Monty in the hallways of their shared dormitory building, but much of their time out of class they spent together. Sometimes on a date, other times simply ‘chilling’ as Raven liked to refer to it as.  
  
They had even fallen asleep in each other’s arms one night after a marathon of Netflix and popcorn until Octavia started blowing up Clarke’s phone with worried text messages asking where the blonde was. Clarke tried to pretend not to notice the disappointment on her roommate’s face when she got back to her room that night, knowing she hadn’t been spending enough time with her best friend and feeling guilty about it. It was exactly why when Octavia told her about an upcoming Halloween bash on campus that coming weekend, Clarke knew she had to agree to attend.  
  
“The only reason you wanted to be Catwoman is so that you could wear a bodysuit,” Clarke teased her best friend as she looked away from the mirror she was using to help her apply a generous amount of makeup to her eyes.  
  
“And the cute little ears,” Octavia added as she adjusted the black furry headband in her hair.  
  
Clarke let a small smirk play on her lips as she watched the brunette appraise herself in the mirror hanging on the back of their closet door and felt herself fighting just the slightest bit of jealousy as she let her eyes linger down the lithe body of her friend. It wasn’t that Clarke was uncomfortable with her own curves, she loved them, but she was always a bit self-conscious of whether _other_ people appreciated them as well. She pushed back her uncertainty for the time being and refocused her attention to her makeup which was almost complete.  
  
“What’s Lexa dressing up as?” Octavia asked as she began digging through Clarke’s makeup bag.  
  
“I don’t know,” Clarke said with a small sigh. “She’s been stressing about it non-stop. I tried giving her some suggestions, but she didn’t seem to receptive to any of them.”  
  
“Yeah, somehow I don’t think you suggesting she go to the party naked would be something she’d agree to,” Octavia said as she quirked an eyebrow and gave Clarke a suggestive look.  
  
“I did _not_ tell her to go naked,” Clarke squeaked, nearly choking on her own tongue as she tried not to dwell on the visual.  
  
“Yeah, but you were thinking it,” Octavia said slyly. “Don’t lie, Griffin. You’re horny as hell lately.”  
  
“W–why would you even say that?” Clarke feigned innocence as she began painting her lips bright red.  
  
“Are you kidding me?” Octavia said with a scoff. “You two eye-fuck every time you see each other. I almost slipped in a puddle of your drool once.”  
  
“Oh, shut up,” Clarke said as she tossed a makeup sponge in Octavia’s general direction.  
  
She couldn’t help the heat rising to her cheeks though and thought back to all of the times over the last two months since her first date with Lexa how many times she had fantasized about the beautiful brunette. They had gotten really good at kissing, like _really_ good, but Clarke would be lying if she said she wasn’t a quivering mess of need every time they ended a steamy makeout session just at the moment she was hoping she would feel Lexa’s hands somewhere else on her body. Doing something other than cradling her cheek tenderly or tangling in her hair urgently or gripping at her hips desperately. She could feel Lexa’s hesitation as the weeks went on, but Clarke knew she didn’t want to step over any lines that Lexa might be uncomfortable crossing too soon.  
  
“I just can’t believe you two haven’t banged by now,” Octavia muttered as she brushed on a thick stripe of black eyeshadow.  
  
“There’s not a _due by_ date on sex, Octavia,” Clarke replied quickly. “I don’t want to rush her into anything she’s not comfortable with. Besides, it’s not like _I'm_ so experienced either. I don’t even know what I’m missing really...”  
  
It was true. Clarke had never experienced any type of physical touch beyond kisses, steamy kisses, but she was practically aching to experience the next step that it had her mind spinning most of the time she found herself alone with Lexa. Which was quite often.  
  
“You’re missing a lot,” Octavia said. The girl was nothing if not blunt.  
  
“It’s not as if I’ve never had an orgasm before,” Clarke said quietly, embarrassed she’d even said as much out loud.  
  
“It’s so different with someone else though, Clarke,” Octavia replied, apparently not even phased by her best friend’s admission. “Lincoln, well, he didn’t quite get me there the first time we had sex. We had to work up to it, but after a few times when I finally got there for the first time... it was... incredible.”  
  
Clarke watched in stunned silence as Octavia seemed to glaze over for a moment as if she was remembering a particularly satisfying night she’d shared with Lincoln in the past, and all too soon Clarke’s blush had segued into an expression of faint disgust as she couldn’t help but picture her best friend in the throes of unbridled passion. They were practically like sisters, so the thought in and of itself was enough to successfully and thoroughly gross Clarke out.  
  
“Now I know why we don’t usually talk about sex,” Clarke mumbled as she turned her face back towards her mirror and tried to clear her mind.  
  
“Remind yourself of that after you and Lexa finally do the do,” Octavia said with an expression of warning. “So... how far have you guys gone?”  
  
“What?” Clarke said, her voice managing to squeak for the second time that evening.  
  
“You heard me,” Octavia said with a playful tone of voice. “Come on... second base?”  
  
“No base,” Clarke said, doing her best not to grumble.  
  
“Technically you’ve been to first base because you’ve kissed,” Octavia informed her. “Apparently a lot by the ridiculous look on your face right now.”  
  
Clarke just scrunched her eyebrows in response, realizing she had been caught staring at Octavia with her bottom lip clamped between her teeth as she thought about all the times she and Lexa had kissed over the past months, and quickly turned her head back towards her mirror.  
  
“Seriously? You guys have made out that much, and she hasn’t gone in for a feelsky?” Octavia asked.  
  
Clarke shook her head in response and made no efforts to speak, and she pressed her lips tightly together as she smoothed out the lipstick she’d applied just minutes earlier.  
  
“Have you been, like, giving her any signs that you would _want_ her to?” Octavia questioned further.  
  
“I don’t know,” Clarke said quietly and shrugged. “Probably not.”  
  
“Well, if you want her to, and I think it’s quite obvious that you do,” Octavia began with a small roll of her eyes, “maybe it’s time to start dropping some hints.”  
  
Clarke watched skeptically as Octavia reached for her phone and switched to camera mode before making a few vague gestures with her hands. Octavia finally instructed Clarke to stand up and make a sexy pose before explaining she should send it to Lexa as a little appetizer for what the evening had in store. Clarke initially grimaced at the suggestion but quickly shrugged off her doubts as she thought about the reaction it might cause before jutting her hip to the side and throwing a seductive look over her shoulder at the camera.  
  
“Damn, this is a good picture,” Octavia said, praising her photography skills in the process. “I won’t even be mad if she decides to jump you at her front door.”  
  
“I seriously doubt she’ll be doing that in front of you and her roommate,” Clarke said as she rolled her eyes and typed out a quick message before sending the picture off to Lexa.  
  
“Right,” Octavia began as she sat in front of Clarke, “the infamous _Raven_.”  
  
“Look, sorry we haven’t introduced you guys yet,” Clarke said as she began drawing a whisker on Octavia’s cheek. “It’s just that–”  
  
“You’ve been too busy making out and not going to second base to bother letting me meet the _other_ girl you spend time with almost every day.”  
  
Clarke pulled her hand back for just a moment as she took in the flustered but sorrowful look in her best friend’s eyes, and her heart broke a little. She blinked back the feeling of prickles behind her eyes and opened her mouth to speak.  
  
“I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with Lexa lately,” Clarke said softly.  
  
“No, Clarke,” Octavia interrupted, “it’s fine... trust me, I know what it’s like falling in love...”  
  
“Falling in love?” Clarke interjected quickly.  
  
“You don’t think that’s what’s happening between you and Lexa?” Octavia questioned lightly, as if she already knew the answer.  
  
Clarke said nothing in response and held her gaze with her best friend for another few beats.  
  
“Well, it’s pretty obvious to me,” Octavia continued, “just don’t forget about me cuz I kinda like you.”  
  
“I like you too,” Clarke said as she threw Octavia a sweet smile and batted her eyelashes dramatically.  
  
“Yeah, yeah,” Octavia said and motioned for Clarke to continue with what she had been doing, “just shut up and paint me.”  
  


* * *

 

Lexa fidgeted with the silk knot around her neck for what seemed like the hundredth time before she felt a pair of soft hands batting at her fingers to stop. She looked up nervously to see Raven smirking at her, assuring her that her tie looked perfect, and eyed the pinstriped fedora being offered. She took it hesitantly and after spending a few moments rotating it aimlessly around in her hands, Raven took it back from her and lifted it to rest on the top of her head. She tipped it to the right just slightly before taking a step back and surveying her work.  
  
“You look hot,” Raven finally said, earning a pink blush from Lexa.  
  
Lexa felt oddly comfortable in the costume Raven had helped her put together, and it was most likely due to the fact that it wasn't overly revealing. Her shoulders were bare thanks to the black and white pinstriped vest that clung tightly around her midsection as a matching pinstriped pair of pants sat high on her waist and flowed loosely down her legs to flare over her feet.  
  
A pair of white shirt cuffs decorated with black cufflinks were fitted around each of her wrists and a black silk tie was knotted carefully around her neck and tucked behind the apex of her vest. Shiny black heels, bright red lips, and a real cigar Lexa knew she would never light pulled her look together for what Raven assured her would be 'just the right amount of sexy and badassery to make Clarke loose her shit'.  
  
It wasn't that Lexa was dressing up solely for Clarke, but the beautiful blonde was certainly on her mind as the only one to impress that night. She just hoped she would impress her the right way. After Raven gave her own costume the once-over and sprayed another thick cloud of hairspray around her head, they made their way out of their dorm room and headed quickly towards the party.  
  
As they got closer to their final destination, Lexa couldn't help but feel her throat parch at the memories of the picture Clarke had sent of herself earlier that evening. If Clarke's costume looked even half as amazing on her in real life as it did in the image, Lexa knew she was in for a long night. Just the thought of the skimpy outfit hugging all of Clarke's delectable curves was enough to make Lexa's heart sputter in her chest and her insides throb with desire.  
  
“There's your Wonder Woman,” Raven said as she leaned over to speak into Lexa's ear above the music.  
  
Lexa gulped as her throat ran dry for the second time in the last thirty minutes while she confirmed that, yes, Clarke did indeed look even better in her costume in real life than she did in the picture. As she and her roommate closed the distance between them and Clarke, Lexa moved her hands up to adjust her glasses only to remember she was wearing her contacts when her fingers closed around nothing but air. Instead she fidgeted with the cigar in her hands and held her breath as Clarke's gaze found hers.  
  
_Holy mother of fuck._  
  
Clarke barely stopped herself from saying it out loud as she finally saw Lexa come out of the crowd and walk slowly towards her. She could tell immediately by her costume that she was dressed as some kind of hot mafia boss, emphasis on the word _hot_. Clarke had never seen Lexa wear such a bold color of lipstick, and she was momentarily caught off guard by the image of it smeared carelessly around her mouth as a result of a passionate kiss stolen in the shadowy corners of the party house. Her stomach did a small flip-flop as she caught sight of a sparkle in those emerald eyes, and Clarke was almost certain she had been rendered speechless.  
  
“Hey, Clarke,” Raven spoke up immediately as soon as she and Lexa were within speaking distance. “You make a pretty stellar Wonder Woman.”  
  
“Thanks,” Clarke managed to croak out before focusing her hungry gaze back on Lexa. “You look... wow...”  
  
Lexa blushed, as per usual, and felt her heart speed up in her chest as her brain began shouting at her to keep eye contact with Clarke and not let her gaze wander downwards, even though that was all she wanted to do at that moment. The warnings that rang in her head were to no avail as her eyes flicked downward to ogle at the generous amount of cleavage being displayed by Clarke's tight red bodice for just a moment before she snapped her eyes shut and tipped her head down towards the floor to take a calming breath. She finally managed to look back up at Clarke, making sure to maintain her eye contact that time, and was thankful that Clarke didn't appear offended. In fact, she appeared the very opposite of offended.  
  
“I love your costume,” Lexa finally breathed out, at which Raven just laughed and Clarke just blushed. “Where's Octavia?”  
  
“Oh, she had to reapply her lipstick or something,” Clarke explained. “She's in the bathroom wherever that is.”  
  
“Well, I don't know about you two,” Raven started as she looked between Lexa and Clarke, “but I need a drink.”  
  
Clarke looked over to Lexa who nodded her head quickly in agreement, and the three of them made their way into the kitchen where they figured the booze was. The small room was packed with students, and there were full bottles of alcohol lining the counter tops just waiting to be cracked open and enjoyed. Raven nearly squealed when she caught sight of her favorite brand of tequila and immediately insisted they all do a tequila shot, not even waiting to hear a verbal agreement before she began to pour.  
  
“Show her how to set it up, Griffin,” Raven said as she handed Clarke a salt shaker.  
  
Clarke took it from her and turned towards Lexa, who looked slightly pale due to the nervousness probably coursing through her body, and leaned in close to explain.  
  
“Lick your hand like this,” Clarke said before she swiped her tongue along the back of her hand and waited for Lexa to do the same.  
  
She did, and Clarke smiled before she sprinkled a bit of salt to the moistened skin on each of their hands. Lexa had a questionable look on her face as Clarke reached for the bowl of prepared lime wedges and took two from the top of the pile, handing one over to the befuddled brunette.  
  
“So you lick,” Clarke said as she lifted her salted hand, “shoot,” she continued with a shot-taking gesture, “and bite,” she finished as she held up the lime wedge in her fingers.  
  
Lexa nodded lightly and tried to shake away her nerves, but they only seemed to get stronger when she felt Raven hand over a shot glass that was filled with something that didn't smell _anything_ like a beverage that should be ingested. She watched carefully as Clarke was handed her own shot glass and Raven stepped closer to both of them with a huge smile on her face.  
  
“Bottom's up, ladies!”  
  
And with that, Clarke and Raven immediately licked their salted skin which Lexa found herself mimicking just a second behind. The bitter taste was sharp on her tongue, but it was forgotten quickly as the potent flavor of tequila invaded her mouth and burned down her throat. The cool gush of lime juice in her mouth was like a breath of fresh air, and Lexa continued to suck on the citrus even as her face distorted ever so slightly from the sour taste of it.  
  
“Round two, coming through!” Raven shouted merrily as she gathered the shot glasses to pour another round for all of them.  
  
Clarke just chuckled and shrugged as she prepared the salt on her hand again, urging Lexa to do the same. The second shot of tequila went down far easier than the first, and Lexa was starting to enjoy the warming sensation blossoming in her chest as she allowed Clarke to lead her back into the living room where a small cluster of party-goers were dancing to the quick beat of the music blaring from the speakers.  
  
After about fifteen minutes of dancing and countless sneak peeks down at Clarke's tantalizing curves moving in rhythm so closely to her, Lexa eagerly agreed to bring Clarke a drink when she had requested one. It probably wasn't a good idea (in hindsight of course) to chug the full cup of beer she had filled from the keg, but Lexa was desperate to quench her thirst and intensify the mellow buzz in her brain that she thought might stop her mind from wandering into inappropriate territory every time she laid her eyes on Clarke. Another few seconds later, Lexa was taking a deep breath and making her way back to Clarke with two cups of beer in her hands.  
  
“Thanks,” Clarke said with a smile as she stepped away from the dance area and tried to catch her breath.  
  
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she sipped on her drink to see Lexa steadily gulping her own as if she hadn't had anything to drink in days. A small smirk tugged at the corners of Clarke's mouth as she watched Lexa pull her now empty cup away from her lips and lick them satisfyingly before she flashed Clarke a lazy smile.  
  
“Do you need a refill?” Lexa asked and pointed at Clarke's cup.  
  
“Uh, no,” Clarke replied slowly as she looked down at her cup that was still full. “I'm good.”  
  
“It's a little hot in here,” Lexa said and tugged gently at the collar of her shirt.  
  
“A little bit,” Clarke agreed with a small nod. “Do you want to go outside for a while?”  
  
“Sure,” Lexa said before swallowing thickly. “I just... I think... I need another drink first.”  
  
Clarke bit back a giggle as she watched Lexa turn quickly towards the kitchen and disappear in the crowd, realizing that the brunette was likely nervous about something if the rate at which she was consuming her beverages implied anything. Before she could think anything else, she heard Octavia's voice in her ear.  
  
“Where's Lexa?”  
  
“She's getting herself another drink,” Clarke said as she turned around to look at her best friend. “Where have you been?”  
  
“Ugh,” Octavia just grunted, “don't ask.”  
  
Clarke shot the brunette a confused look and remained silent, hoping Octavia would explain.  
  
“That annoying girl I keep running into is here,” Octavia said as she rolled her eyes. “She is the bane of my existence. Literally.”  
  
“Alright, just try not to let her ruin your night,” Clarke said as she caught sight of Lexa and Raven walking out of the kitchen and over towards her and Octavia, “and try to be nice to Lexa's roommate because you're finally about to meet her.”  
  
Octavia was busy gulping down a few hearty swigs of her beer as Lexa and Raven approached and nearly choked on her last sip when she laid eyes on the girl standing next to Lexa. The girl Octavia had just described as the bane of her existence not thirty seconds prior. The girl who had been the thorn in Octavia's side since the very beginning of the school year. The girl who was apparently Lexa's roommate.  
  
“You!” Octavia shrieked as she widened her eyes in horror at the brunette.  
  
“You!” Raven echoed in disbelief. “ _You're_ my roommate's girlfriend's roommate?”  
  
“Oh, this is just perfect,” Octavia said through a sarcastic smile as she pinched the bridge of her nose.  
  
“Wait, you guys know each other?” Clarke asked as a confused look washed over her face.  
  
“She's the annoying girl that follows me everywhere!” Octavia nearly screamed as she pointed over at Raven.  
  
“Oh, trust me,” Raven interjected quickly, “annoyance does follow you everywhere, but I'm not the one responsible for it.”  
  
“You know what?” Octavia began to say as she took a step towards the other girl.  
  
“Hey, whoa,” Clarke interrupted as she stepped between her best friend and Raven, “let's just, uh... why don't we all calm down here?”  
  
“I _am_ calm!” Octavia shouted dramatically. “It's not my fault she's the most annoying person on campus.”  
  
“You _actually_ think _I'm_ the annoying one in this relationship?” Raven said with a scoff.  
  
“Wow, listening really is not your forte,” Octavia quipped as she tilted her head to the side.  
  
“I'm much better at it when the person talking to me doesn't make my skin crawl with every word that comes out of her mouth,” Raven snapped back.  
  
“Okay, okay, okay,” Clarke hastily interjected as she nudged herself even further between the two. “Can you just... give it a rest... just for tonight?”  
  
Octavia sighed loudly, and Raven looked from Clarke to Lexa and then over to Octavia before she rolled her eyes and muttered a short string of expletives under her breath as she reached for Octavia's hand.  
  
“Come on,” Raven commanded as she drug the brunette out of the living room.  
  
“What the hell are you doing?” Octavia protested but allowed herself to be led into a quiet bedroom just past the kitchen at the back of the house.  
  
“We don't like each other,” Raven blurted out after she closed the door behind them.  
  
“You know, for a space genius you're kind of slow,” Octavia replied as she quirked an eyebrow.  
  
“ _What I mean_ is that we both have friends who happen to be dating,” Raven explained slowly, “so we should try and make nice... or at least fake nice... for their sake.”  
  
“Although you do seem like the type of girl I'd have to fake a lot of things with,” Octavia began, “what makes you think I have the energy to stop myself from wanting to slap you every time I see your face?”  
  
“First of all, there's _nothing_ you would have to fake with a girl like me,” Raven said as her voice dropped an octave and she stepped closer to Octavia, “and if you want to slap me so badly then why don't you just do it?”  
  
The tension that formed as their eyes locked could have been cut with a knife, and both girls stubbornly stood their ground. They were barely an inch away from each other, their breaths mingling in the tiny space between their faces, until Octavia made the grave mistake of flicking her eyes down to Raven's lips for just a split second. The mechanic noticed immediately and began to raise a solitary eyebrow in challenge but was cut short by the feeling of Octavia's lips smashing against her own.  
  
They found themselves instantly engaged in a battle for dominance as their kiss skipped directly over the exploratory stage and straight to the desperate, passionate, savage stage as they took rushed turns biting and pulling and sucking until the back of Octavia's thighs connected with the edge of a dresser. She moaned into the other girl's mouth as she felt a pair of strong hands grope her backside followed by the sweet sting of fingers digging into the pliant flesh there.  
  
Before she even realized what was happening, Octavia was being lifted to the surface of the dresser and kissed like the world was ending. She buried her fingers in Raven's hair, earning a snarl from the girl as the gloves of Octavia's costume scraped roughly against her scalp and Raven retaliated by ripping their lips apart and latching onto the supple skin of the smooth neck in front of her. There was nothing Octavia could do, nothing she wanted to do, as she felt Raven bite down hard, hissing at the feeling of strong teeth clamping around her skin.  
  
“We're not going to tell anyone about this, right?” Octavia asked through a few strangled breaths.  
  
“Nope,” Raven said against her neck as she continued her assault, adding a delicious amount of pressure against Octavia's hips with her fingers as she spoke.  
  
“Good,” Octavia croaked out before a moan spilled from her lips as Raven began to make her way down Octavia's chest, unzipping her body suit inch by inch as she went.  
  


* * *

 

“I hope they're not killing each other,” Clarke said as she gestured in the direction of where Raven had dragged Octavia.  
  
Lexa hummed in response and shrugged as she looked down at her cup that was already empty, again, and sighed.  
  
“What's wrong?” Clarke asked, an amused smirk playing across her lips as she noticed the small pout on Lexa's.  
  
“My drink,” Lexa said matter-of-factly. “It's gone.”  
  
“Are you sure you want another one?” Clarke asked as she slipped her hand around Lexa's forearm as the girl began to sway on her feet.  
  
“I'm thirsty,” Lexa said quietly as her eyes mapped every square inch of Clarke's face before adding, “for beer.”  
  
“Okay, let's go,” Clarke said as she linked their fingers together and led them towards the kitchen.  
  
“Or tequila,” Lexa blurted out as she walked, “that was good too.”  
  
“I'm sure any alcohol would taste good to you right about now,” Clarke said with a chuckle, knowing that Lexa was well on her way to getting drunk if she wasn't already there.  
  
About thirty minutes and a tequila shot later, Clarke and Lexa found themselves outside in the backyard of the party house. There were a few other students around them, clustered tightly in their own groups as they chatted and sipped on their drinks, and Clarke found herself more amused by the minute as Lexa continued to indulge in her fair share of booze throughout the night. It was also becoming very apparent that Lexa was like a truth machine when she was drunk, her usual shyness and accompanying filter nowhere to be found.  
  
“Clarke?” Lexa asked softly.  
  
“Hmm?” Clarke hummed just as softly as she gazed into Lexa's eyes.  
  
“Clarke, are you listening?”  
  
“Yes, Lexa,” Clarke replied with a smirk, “I'm listening.”  
  
“Good,” Lexa replied as she nodded her head slowly, “because I want to tell you... about... how much I _love_ your lips.”  
  
Clarke's heart stuttered in her chest almost as many times as Lexa had slurred her words, and she felt a familiar warming sensation spread across her cheeks as Lexa stared dreamily at her.  
  
“The way they feel on mine,” Lexa continued and positioned Clarke's arms around her waist, “it's the best feeling in the world.”  
  
“So you're saying that you like it when I kiss you?” Clarke played along as her smirk widened.  
  
“I get lost in them,” Lexa whispered, “in the kisses... mmm... but then you find me.”  
  
Clarke just giggled as the girl she was holding in her arms tipped backwards just slightly before swaying back upright and throwing her a sleepy smile. They gazed into each other's eyes for another few seconds before Clarke felt Lexa's hands cupping the backs of her arms lightly. She pulled back to study the brunette's expression on her face, which had turned rather serious all of the sudden, and remained silent as Lexa opened her mouth to speak.  
  
“Am I drunk?” She asked as if she honestly didn't know.  
  
“Considering you've said more words to me in the last thirty seconds than you probably have over all the years we have known each other,” Clarke began to explain, “then, yes, I would say it's safe to assume that you're drunk.”  
  
“I can't believe it,” Lexa breathed out with a tone of innocence lacing her voice. “Wait, what did I just say?”  
  
“I can't believe it,” Clarke repeated, thoroughly amused at Lexa's behavior.  
  
“Can't believe what?” Lexa asked in confusion.  
  
“That's what you just said,” Clarke clarified as she bit back the chuckle bubbling in her throat.  
  
“When?” Lexa questioned as her eyebrows stitched together.  
  
“Just a second ago,” Clarke said, unable to stop the chuckle from escaping that time.  
  
“You're so pretty when you're angry,” Lexa said as a wide grin plastered itself on her face, and she lifted a hand to trace Clarke's cheek with her fingers.  
  
“I'm not angry, Lexa,” Clarke assured her as she punctuated her statement with a smile.  
  
“See?” Lexa said excitedly. “You're pretty when you smile too.”  
  
“And you're adorable when you're drunk,” Clarke replied.  
  
“I'm drunk?!” Lexa questioned suddenly as she pulled her hand away from Clarke's face.  
  
Clarke couldn't help herself as she began to laugh, making sure to hold onto the brunette tightly so that she didn't think she was laughing _at_ her and was relieved to see Lexa smile shyly in response. They began to sway to the beat of the music they could hear thumping inside the house, and Clarke bit her lip as she felt Lexa pull their bodies even closer together as they moved.  
  
Their hips were flush and their breasts pressed against each other's tightly, and Clarke felt a rush of boldness wash over her as she took a step back and began to rock her hips seductively. She knew she was a good dancer, Octavia had always told her so, and she felt even more confident as Lexa's eyes began to wander lazily over her body.  
  
She let a small smirk play across her lips as Lexa appeared to become entranced by her movements and turned around so that her back was facing Lexa all while continuing to dance. Clarke could feel Lexa's gaze on her ass as she began moving it slowly from side to side and chanced a look back to confirm exactly that. All too soon, Lexa snapped her eyes away from Clarke's body and her hands slapped noisily over her eyes.  
  
“Wait, Clarke!” Lexa pleaded suddenly. “I can't look at you!”  
  
“Why not?” Clarke questioned as she turned back around and suppressed a giggle at the brunette's frantic actions.  
  
“Because,” was all Lexa offered after she let out a pained groan and backed herself into the wall behind her.  
  
“Because why?” Clarke prodded, curious as to what Lexa was struggling to say.  
  
“Because, Clarke,” Lexa practically whined as she let her hands fall to her sides but keeping her eyes screwed tightly shut.  
  
Clarke said nothing as she lifted a hand to Lexa's cheek and brushed softly against it as if to request the amusingly troubled girl to open her eyes. And open them she did.  
  
“Because why?” Clarke asked in a whisper.  
  
“Because... when I look at you...” Lexa began but trailed off until she saw Clarke silently urging her to continue, “I just... I... want to touch you.”  
  
Clarke swallowed as a jolt of excitement fired in her chest and shot straight down to dissipate to a throbbing between her legs and blinked a few times as she gathered the strength to speak again.  
  
“Touch me where?” She whispered as she took a small step forward, only for the closer proximity to draw Lexa's gaze down to her chest.  
  
“Everywhere,” Lexa replied quietly before snapping her eyes closed again and tipping her head back to rest it against the wall she was leaning against.  
  
“You can, you know,” Clarke said quietly. “I mean, you probably shouldn't right now because you're drunk... but you can later.”  
  
“You would want me to?” Lexa asked in surprise as she opened her eyes and locked gazes with Clarke.  
  
“Oh, _hell_ yes,” Clarke replied confidently as she nodded in approval.  
  
Lexa nodded along with her and let her eyes trail down Clarke's body one last time before she caught herself and slapped her hands back over her widened eyes.  
  
“But not right now because I'm drunk.”  
  


* * *

 

“How drunk _were_ you last night?” Clarke asked after about the fourth groan sounded from Octavia's side of the room.  
  
“Really fucking drunk,” Octavia mumbled from underneath her pillow.  
  
“You smell like a brewery,” Clarke said as she put her shower caddy away in her closet after having just come back from her morning shower.  
  
“ _You_ smell like a brewery,” Octavia quipped lamely.  
  
“I just took a shower,” Clarke said and walked towards Octavia's bed. “It's all you, babe.”  
  
Octavia just groaned again before her face scrunched up in protest as Clarke yanked her pillow from where it was resting atop her head. Before she could form another smartass comment, Clarke's gaze caught on the sight of a dark purple bruise on the side of her best friend's neck that looked like a rather convincing hickey. Her mouth hung open, and she thrust an accusatory finger towards Octavia's neck.  
  
“Octavia Blake!” Clarke exclaimed, at which the brunette cracked her eyes open. “You have a hickey on your neck!”  
  
“Um, what?” Octavia tried to lie as she moved her hand to quickly cover the spot she knew the bruise was. “I don't know what you're talking about.”  
  
“Who did you make out with?” Clarke probed as she reached for Octavia's hand and pulled it away from her neck to inspect the bruise again.  
  
“No one,” Octavia immediately replied, and Clarke stared doubtfully at her.  
  
After another few moments of silence on both girls' parts, Octavia sighed in defeat as Clarke jumped onto her bed and readied herself for a juicy story.  
  
“So, remember that really hot guy we saw on our orientation tour at the beginning of the year?” Octavia asked.  
  
“Yeah,” Clarke began as her eyes narrowed. “The guy you went looking for and never found?”  
  
“Yeah well, I found him,” Octavia said with a shrug.  
  
“Did you have sex with him?” Clarke asked incredulously.  
  
“What? No!” Octavia exclaimed immediately before letting out a few nervous laughs. “No, of course not. Sometimes a hickey is just a hickey okay? I mean, just because I got one doesn't mean I slept with someone. What kind of a girl do you think I am, Clarke?”  
  
“Okay!” Clarke interrupted her flustered friend and held up her hands in surrender. “Jeez, don't bite my head off.”  
  
“Look, Clarke,” Octavia started as she slipped her legs over the side of her bed, “you can't just pummel me with questions first thing in the morning after a night of drinking before I've had my coffee.”  
  
“Fine,” Clarke said as she stood up, “get your hungover ass into a pair of pants so we can go get some coffee.”  
  
Octavia shot her best friend a glare but silently agreed nonetheless as she changed into an appropriately comfortable outfit before trudging out of their room with the promise of caffeine. They made it to Grounders in record time despite the heaviness Octavia felt in her limbs as she walked, and they found a quiet corner to sit in and sip their coffees in silence. Octavia had just emptied her first mug when a steaming pot suddenly came from out of nowhere and hovered in front of her eyes. When she looked up to see Raven staring back at her with an unreadable expression, Octavia swallowed nervously and said nothing.  
  
“Looks like you had a rough night,” Raven said as she quirked an eyebrow. “Refill?”  
  
Clarke looked on as the strangely calm scene unfolded in front of her. She noticed the way Octavia blinked her eyes a few times before muttering out a soft 'sure' and lifted her mug towards Raven. The two caught a few small glances of each other before Raven turned towards Clarke and offered the same.  
  
“Okay, what's going on here?” Clarke finally broke the silence as Raven finished pouring a fresh serving of coffee into her mug. “I'd expect you two to be clawing each other's eyes out by now.”  
  
Raven looked back at Octavia, who suddenly realized that they _were_ being much too civil towards each other if they meant to lead their friends to believe nothing had happened between the two of them the previous night. It seemed as though Raven realized the very same thing at the very same moment and opened her mouth to speak.  
  
“Take a picture, Blake,” Raven snapped, “it will last longer.”  
  
“Who stuffed coffee beans up your ass this morning?” Octavia quipped back, not missing a beat.  
  
“Next Halloween instead of wasting your time dressing up as Catwoman, you should come as 'World's Biggest Bitch',” Raven instructed. “That way, you wouldn't even need a costume.”  
  
“And you could limp along as a giant pain in the ass,” Octavia retorted.  
  
“You know, is it just me or are you suddenly very infatuated with my ass?” Raven teased as a satisfied smirk fell to her lips when she saw the faintest of blushes streak across Octavia's cheeks.  
  
“Yeah, I think I like you guys better like this,” Clarke jumped in before taking a sip of her coffee. “It's weird when you don't fight.”  
  
“Luckily for you, Clarke, this one should give me an endless supply of reasons to fight with her,” Octavia said.  
  
“I can't help it,” Raven cut in. “It just comes so naturally when I'm with you.”  
  
After that and a cheeky smile, Raven departed to leave the two best friends alone together. Octavia huffed out a sigh, and Clarke rolled her eyes before the two of them sipped on their fresh coffees for a few silent minutes.  
  
“So what about you?” Octavia finally spoke up. “Any hickeys from Lexa to show off?”  
  
“No,” Clarke replied quietly. “She was way too drunk last night for anything like that to happen.”  
  
“Drunk Lexa?” Octavia asked as her eyes widened. “And I missed it? Damn.”  
  
Clarke chuckled into her mug as she remembered all of the highly amusing things that came out of Lexa's mouth the previous night and couldn't help but think about her confession regarding how every time she looked at Clarke she wanted to touch her. Everywhere.  
  
“What is she like?” Octavia asked. “Drunk, I mean.”  
  
“She's adorable,” Clarke said immediately. “Innocent and wide eyed.”  
  
“You are so smitten,” Octavia told her through a small chuckle.  
  
“That I won't deny,” Clarke said quickly. “Did you not see how hot she looked in her costume last night?”  
  
“Yep,” Octavia replied, at which Clarke shot her a glare. “You _just_ asked me if I noticed. You can't get mad at me for answering your question.”  
  
Clarke was about to protest anyways until the vibration of her phone distracted her. She fished it out of her back pocket and smiled when she saw a new text message pop up on her screen.  
  
**Lexa Woods: Good morning, Clarke.**  
  
**MsGriffster: Morning :) How do you feel?**  
  
**Lexa Woods: I've been better.**  
  
**MsGriffster: I would assume as much. You had a lot to drink last night.**  
  
**Lexa Woods: It wasn't my best decision ever.**  
  
**MsGriffster: You were pretty adorable drunk, I've got to say. So if you plan on making any other bad decisions in the near future, let me know because I'd like to be there to witness the cuteness.**  
  
Clarke giggled to herself as she sent the message, imaging Lexa blushing like she always would when they flirted.  
  
**Lexa Woods: I can hardly imagine I was that cute that drunk.**  
  
**MsGriffster: Trust me. You were.**  
  
“So,” Octavia began hesitantly, “do you want to hang out today or are you busy with Lexa?”  
  
“I am free as a bird,” Clarke told her best friend with a smile on her face.  
  
“We could do a scary movie marathon,” Octavia suggested, knowing it was something they'd done countless times in the past.  
  
“Sounds perfect,” Clarke replied, and the genuine smile Octavia flashed at her made her heart melt just a little.  
  
They'd had their ups and downs, as every friendship did, but Clarke couldn't deny that she loved Octavia like a sister and often joked that they had been separated at birth due to how strong their bond was. It had been a natural friendship from the very beginning, and there isn't a happy memory or a past fight she'd trade for the world.  
  
“I need to shower,” Octavia said, breaking the silence after she caught a faint whiff of herself.  
  
“I know,” Clarke agreed, “I already told you that you smell like a brewery.”  
  
They stood from their comfortable chairs and headed back towards the counter to order themselves as cup to go, which Clarke was both appreciative and apprehensive about accepting for free from Raven. She honestly wasn't sure if the girl was offering them out of the kindness of her heart or if she'd sabotaged them just to get a rise out Octavia. Her hesitation was dispelled when she finally explained.  
  
“Could you drop this off with your girlfriend?” Raven said as she slid a third to-go cup of coffee towards Clarke. “She looked pretty terrible when I left her this morning.”  
  
“It's cool, Clarke,” Octavia assured her friend when she got a questioning look. “It will give me time to shower.”  
  
Clarke nodded and accepted the cup from Raven before bidding her a good rest of her day and heading out towards Lexa's dorm. She parted ways with Octavia and continued on, delivering the coffee to an appreciative but bashful brunette who seemed more flustered at the fact that she hadn't changed out of her sleepwear before Clarke came over than anything else. They chatted for a few minutes and shared a tender kiss before Clarke (somewhat reluctantly) left to spend what had turned out to be an awesome day watching movies with her best friend.  
  


* * *

 

“I told you, Clarke,” Lexa said as she pushed open her dorm room door, “I don't have a favorite.”  
  
“Everyone has a favorite!” Clarke exclaimed as she followed Lexa into her room. “You can't possibly tell me that you have no opinion whatsoever on who is better.”  
  
“I don't really know that much about superheroes,” Lexa quietly admitted as she closed the door behind them.  
  
“Okay, I'll break it down for you,” Clarke said as she kicked off her shoes and hopped up on Lexa's bed. “Superman is an alien from Krypton. He looks like a person but has superpowers.”  
  
Lexa carefully removed her shoes as she listened, narrowing her eyes in confusion as Clarke began to explain the differences between Superman and Batman. Apparently there was a global rift between which superhero was better, and Clarke had felt it was necessary for each of them to name their favorite for compatibility sake. She had been adamant about not disclosing her choice first, knowing that Lexa would have likely just agreed with her to avoid a disagreement, but didn't realize that Lexa hadn't known the first thing about either character. It must have been all that time spent reading Astronomy books.  
  
“Batman is just a normal guy from Gotham City who has a lot of money and cool gadgets,” Clarke continued.  
  
“So what do they do?”  
  
“They fight crime!” Clarke nearly shouted as Lexa sat down in her desk chair and bit back a small chuckle at the girl's enthusiasm. “Superman can fly, and Batman drives a sweet car.”  
  
“The Batmobile!” Lexa interjected excitedly and immediately blushed when she noticed Clarke smirking at her, most likely from her little outburst.  
  
“See? You _do_ know your superheroes,” Clarke said as she crossed her legs and leaned back on the palms of her hands.  
  
“Well,” Lexa said hesitantly, “not enough to determine who is better than the other.”  
  
“Okay, so Superman can move at super speed,” Clarke explained. “He is indestructible and has x-ray vision and heat vision and can freeze things with his breath. Batman, on the other hand, is just a regular dude with a couple of cool gadgets.”  
  
“It doesn't really seem like Batman is a superhero,” Lexa began tentatively. “I mean, if Superman is an alien and has superpowers and Batman is just a regular guy, it doesn't really seem like a fair comparison.”  
  
“The choice seems obvious, right?” Clarke said as she craned her neck towards Lexa as if to coax a final decision from her.  
  
“However,” Lexa continued as she played devil's advocate, “if Batman isn't really a superhero and can still fight crime without any powers like Superman has, he seems like a contestable challenger.”  
  
“But Superman's invulnerable!” Clarke protested loudly. “I mean, besides from Kryptonite which isn't that easy to come by anyways. Practically _anything_ could kill Batman.”  
  
“I think I'll need additional information before I made a decision,” Lexa stated softly, much to Clarke's disappointment.  
  
“Okay, what kind of additional information?” Clarke asked.  
  
“Maybe... we could... watch one of their movies together?” Lexa suggested, suddenly nervous for some reason or another.  
  
“That's a great idea!” Clarke exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.  
  
A slow smile crawled onto Lexa's face as she watched Clarke reach for the laptop on Lexa's desk. She watched as Clarke plopped back down onto her bed and began navigating her way to the Netflix website, doing it with ease like she was on her own computer. It was something about Clarke that Lexa loved, the way she was so comfortable in Lexa's space, and couldn't help the tiny bolt of excitement that passed through her chest at the hope that someday they might share a space together.  
  
“What's Raven doing tonight?” Clarke suddenly asked, and Lexa frowned just slightly in response. “I mean, should we be expecting her back any time soon?”  
  
The hesitant expression in Clarke's eyes told Lexa everything she needed to know as she realized Clarke was asking, or rather hoping, they would be alone for a while.  
  
“Actually,” Lexa began slowly, “she won't be back on campus until Sunday.”  
  
Clarke remained silent but cocked a curious eyebrow and nodded once in understanding. She almost couldn't believe that she and Lexa would have the room to themselves for the entire weekend if they so chose, and thoughts about how they could spend their time enjoying the privacy began flooding Clarke's mind faster than she could even keep up.  
  
“You could stay the night,” Lexa continued quietly, despite the heat that rose to her cheeks as she spoke, “if we end up... watching more than one movie or something... if you want.”  
  
Clarke swallowed as she looked over to see Lexa nervously fidgeting with her hands in her lap.  
  
“Do you want me to?” She asked hopefully. “Stay the night, I mean?”  
  
“Do _you_?” Lexa asked quickly as her eyes darted over towards Clarke.  
  
They sat in silence for a few beats, just staring at each other, before Clarke cleared her throat and spoke softly.  
  
“If you want me to.”  
  
“Okay,” Lexa replied in a voice just above a whisper.  
  
“Okay, you want me to stay?” Clarke asked as her eyebrows raised slowly.  
  
The question was followed by silence and a small nod from Lexa which in turn created a spark of excitement in both girls' chests as they realized what they had just, somewhat awkwardly, decided on. They remained silently exchanging glances for another few moments before Clarke spoke up.  
  
“Could I borrow some clothes that might be a little more comfortable than these?” Clarke asked a she gestured to her blouse and skinny jeans.  
  
They had already been out on a bit more 'formal' date earlier that evening, and Clarke wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of the night cuddled next to Lexa in her current outfit. Although the chance of being cuddled next to her in _no_ outfit certainly crossed her mind as well. She watched as Lexa scrambled to her feet and walked into the closet at the back of the room, listening as she rustled through her clothes to find something suitable.  
  
“Are shorts okay?” Lexa asked, still hidden from sight as she continued to search through her clothes.  
  
“Yep,” Clarke said quickly as she stood from the bed and made her way up behind Lexa.  
  
She stood in silence as she watched Lexa rummage through her stack of t-shirts and pull one out, not knowing there was anyone behind her as she did so. After taking a deep and calming breath, Lexa turned around to deliver the clothes to Clarke only to find her standing but a foot away from her. A small gasp filled the room from the flustered brunette, and Clarke offered a quiet apology. She took the clothes from Lexa's hands and made her way into the bathroom to change, knowing Lexa would probably want a little privacy to undress as well.  
  
How they managed to sit through an entire movie, cuddled closely together the whole time, neither of them would know as their ever-growing sexual tension mounted to unbelievable heights by the time the credits started rolling. Clarke was pressed up tightly against Lexa's left side, and she lifted her head away from the crook of Lexa's neck to look into her eyes.  
  
“So?” Clarke asked with a faint rasp in her voice. “Did you make a decision?”  
  
“I like whichever one you like,” Lexa replied quietly, her gaze flicking between Clarke's eyes.  
  
“Lexa,” Clarke whined as she tightened her hold around Lexa's waist. “You have to pick.”  
  
“I did,” Lexa replied with a faint smirk.  
  
“Okay, we'll both say our choices out loud on three,” Clarke suggested, and Lexa just nodded. “One... two... three... Super–”  
  
“Superman,” Lexa said just a split second after Clarke had spoken.  
  
“You cheated!” Clarke shrieked as Lexa let a sheepish grin spread across her face.  
  
“I told you we would choose the same character,” Lexa said with a small shrug.  
  
“You are a sneaky one, Miss Woods,” Clarke purred as she pushed herself ever so slightly higher against Lexa's body.  
  
The subtle movement wasn't lost on Lexa, and her eyes darted down to Clarke's lips that were hovering just an inch away from her own and swallowed nervously at the tension that had suddenly become thick in the air. The soft squeeze of Clarke's hand around her hip brought Lexa's gaze away from her lips and up to her eyes before she heard Clarke whisper softly.  
  
“Can I kiss you?”  
  
“You never have to ask me that, Clarke,” Lexa confessed in her own quiet voice, and Clarke leaned in almost immediately to capture Lexa's bottom lip between her own.  
  
They all but melted into each other's embrace as their mouths explored carefully and with great purpose. The feeling of their lips tangled together was like no other, and Lexa was admittedly addicted if they way she craved kissing Clarke when they weren't was anything to go by. After a few moments of gentle caresses, Clarke pulled away and reached her hand up to carefully slide Lexa's glasses from her face before setting them on top of the table beside her bed. The way Lexa looked up at her as she slid her hands underneath the pillow they were sharing and pulled her body almost fully atop Lexa's made her insides clench with anticipation for the intimate moments that she hoped were to follow.  
  
They met in a slow but heated kiss, tongues tasting, teeth nibbling, and Lexa moved her hands down to grip Clarke's hips as they usually did during the times they would lose themselves in each other. As her heartbeat continued to quicken, the need for Lexa to separate her mouth from Clarke's became necessary and she panted each time they pulled apart only to chase Clarke's lips to ease her into another kiss immediately thereafter. The taste of her was intoxicating, and Lexa knew it would take forever to get her fill.  
  
A small whimper spilled from Clarke's lips as she nudged herself just a fraction higher, desperate to feel Lexa's hands slip from their position on her hips to somewhere a bit lower, and couldn't stop herself from groaning when she felt exactly that. Lexa had been aching to touch Clarke, to feel her body under her hands, and knew after she'd let that very fact slip the night of the Halloween party that Clarke was all for it. So she went for it.  
  
As her hands slipped over the swell of Clarke's backside, Lexa almost stopped kissing her. The feeling and excitement of finally being able to touch Clarke Griffin the way she had dreamed of for so long was almost too much. What snapped her back to reality was the moan that filled her mouth as Clarke reacted to her touch, and it prompted her to not only kiss back but to pull her hands into a gentle squeeze against the pliant flesh against her palms.  
  
“Clarke,” Lexa whispered as their lips separated, “is this okay?”  
  
She knew it was. She remembered Clarke's enthusiasm that night of the party as she consented to the idea of letting Lexa touch her, but Lexa still wanted to ask. She _needed_ to ask. A furious nod from Clarke sent a shiver of excitement rippling through Lexa's chest, and she chanced another slightly more forceful squeeze which Clarke seemed to enjoy. The angle of their kiss changed as Clarke tipped her head from the right to the left, and they reconnected in another fiery liplock as Lexa's hands continued to explore.  
  
In a surprisingly swift move, Clarke straddled the brunette without breaking their kiss and followed up with a gentle bite to the swell of Lexa's bottom lip which elicited a quiet gasp from the girl. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, and Lexa quickly followed as she chased after the kiss they had just been lost in. Clarke wove her fingers deep into Lexa's hair and sighed as she felt the heat of Lexa's tongue immediately against her own as they drew each other in for another passionate round of kisses that left them panting for air in a matter of seconds.  
  
Lexa took the time to let her gaze wander and almost lost her breath again as she watched the way Clarke's chest heaved for air just inches below her face, the tight peaks of her nipples straining against the soft material of one of Lexa's favorite shirts. She wasn't sure why the image of Clarke wearing her clothes was such a turn on, but it was and Lexa could hardly contain herself at the sight. In a courageous move Lexa didn't even know she was capable of, she lifted her right hand from where it had been resting against Clarke's ass to pass lightly over the the pebbled nipple on Clarke's left breast.  
  
“Lexa,” Clarke said, gasping the brunette's name into the air at the gentle touch.  
  
“Clarke,” Lexa whispered as her breath caught momentarily in her throat. “Can I... can I see you?”  
  
The grip Lexa had against Clarke's hips was probably a few degrees too tight, but it was all Lexa could do to keep herself from floating up into the clouds as Clarke reached down to the hem of her own shirt and began lifting it over her head. She had imagined the moment countless times, shamelessly pictured Clarke's nakedness both under the spell of sleep and in clearness of the daytime, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.  
  
As if her hands had a mind of their own, Lexa felt herself reaching out to cup one of Clarke's generous breasts as her other hand traced around Clarke's hip to the small of her back. She sighed heavily as she began kneading the tender flesh, her heart pounding in her chest each time she heard Clarke whimper into her neck, and was sorely unprepared for the unabashed groan from Clarke as she passed over her hardened nipple with the pad of her thumb.  
  
Lexa was close, already so close to feeling that infamous intense explosion of pleasure no one but herself had brought her to as she continued her gentle caresses against Clarke's breasts having brought her other hand up to join. Their lips reconnected and Clarke arched her back into Lexa's hands, wanting nothing more than to prolong the pleasure she was feeling under the other girl's patient touches. A subtle grind of Clarke's hips against Lexa's seemed to snap the brunette from her one-tracked mind, and Clarke almost groaned in frustration when she no longer felt the warmth and pressure of Lexa's hands on her chest.  
  
She fell against the mattress with a soft 'oompf' after Lexa had flipped their positions quicker than she could even register, but Clarke was far from complaining as she felt her lips being reclaimed with a renewed vigor that made the throbbing between her legs intensify by the second. When she felt Lexa's hands on her again, Clarke almost sobbed in relief but all too soon realized as much as she was enjoying being touched that she wanted to feel and see and experience Lexa too.  
  
“Lexa,” Clarke whispered as Lexa pulled herself back to look into Clarke's eyes. “I want to see you too.”  
  
Lexa continued gazing at her under heavily-lidded eyes and offered a small nod of her head as she pulled herself into a sitting position just as Clarke had done minutes before. As her hands gently caressed Lexa's heated skin over the curve of her hips to the dip in her waist, Clarke swallowed thickly and watched the fabric of her shirt rise to expose more of Lexa's skin than she had ever seen before. When the shirt had been discarded onto the floor, Clarke took a few heated moments to simply drink in the sight in front of her.  
  
A deep blush had risen to Lexa's cheeks and was spattered against the very top of her chest which was quickly moving in pace with her erratic breaths as her heart pumped wildly inside. It was the first time anyone had ever seen her naked, at least as much as she was now, and the look in Clarke's eyes as she lingered on the newly exposed flesh in front of her only made the burning in the pit of Lexa's stomach ignite even more. That was until Clarke swiftly brought her hands to push up under the swell of Lexa's backside to capture a small rose colored nipple between her lips.  
  
Between the wetness of Clarke's mouth on her skin and the pressure of Clarke's hands gripping onto her ass, Lexa's brain nearly short-circuited at the intensity of the sensations she was feeling. It wasn't until she heard the gentle pop of Clarke's lips separating from her breast that Lexa looked down to see Clarke staring back at her with blue eyes darker than she'd ever seen. Their lips connected slowly in a barely-there kiss until Lexa pulled herself away.  
  
“Clarke, I...” Lexa whispered but swallowed her words nervously. “I've never... done this... before.”  
  
“I haven't either,” Clarke assured her quickly but just as quietly. “But I want to. With you.”  
  
“Me too,” Lexa replied with a small nod and slowly lowered her lips back onto Clarke's.  
  
They fell into an almost bashful kiss, both suddenly more than aware of what was about to happen between the two of them, and it wasn't until Clarke's fingertips had danced down Lexa's back and were resting on the waistband of her shorts did the two part. Lexa toyed nervously with the fabric as she chewed on her bottom lip before building up the courage to drag them down her legs and toss them to the floor.  
  
They glanced quickly at each other before Clarke began tugging slowly at her own shorts, glad to have Lexa's help in pulling them down the rest of the way since her position on the bed made it difficult for her to do it alone. They couldn't stop the gasps that fell from their lips as they tugged each other close, reveling in the feeling of their bare skin pressed together. Clarke drew Lexa down for another kiss, and their lips danced languidly against each other's for a generous amount of time before Lexa slipped her right leg to fit snuggly between Clarke's own.  
  
As Clarke took Lexa's hand in her own, she felt Lexa's fingers trembling and instead of leading them down her body as she had intended to, Clarke brought the shaking hand up to gently cup her cheek. Their foreheads rested together as they took a few deep breaths and let themselves succumb to another heated kiss before Lexa couldn't wait another second to feel Clarke against her.  
  
Nervousness be damned, Lexa trailed her hand down the length of Clarke's body making sure to stop in a few places along the way to leave lingering touches and meaningful squeezes. She peered into Clarke's eyes, asking silently for permission, and was answered with a small nod. The slick heat that immediately enveloped her fingers was enough to make Lexa moan, and she did, as Clarke quickly followed up with a satisfied hiss of her own. She could feel Clarke pulsing beneath her fingertips and bit down on the inside of her lip as her own core began throbbing with need.  
  
Lexa's lips found Clarke's neck as her hand began a slow but steady rhythm and could only hope that she was doing everything right as she continued to circle the tight bundle of nerves over and over again. At the whispered request for her to increase her pace, Lexa did so eagerly and had to stop herself from grinding down on Clarke's thigh as she straddled against it. The noises coming from deep in Clarke's chest were almost enough to send Lexa into her own unassisted orgasm but she desperately held back, wanting to bring Clarke there first if she could help it.  
  
“Lexa,” Clarke gasped, “yes, Lexa...”  
  
As Clarke's hips began to rock, Lexa pressed her face even further into the crook of Clarke's neck. Her breaths were coming in short and sharp pants and as much as she wanted to watch Clarke climax, it was all she could do to keep herself from coming without even being touched. Or so she thought. In her haze, Lexa didn't realize that she had begun to thrust against the smoothness of Clarke's thigh until she felt a hand on her backside guiding her movements. She pulled her head away from Clarke's neck and looked up at her, the look in Clarke's eyes nearly rendering her breathless at its intensity.  
  
“Keep going,” Clarke whispered as she continued pushing against Lexa. “I'm almost there.”  
  
Lexa nodded as coherently as possibly as she felt sparks beginning to fire off between her legs with each steady thrust she made against Clarke's skin. It wasn't a moment later that Clarke stiffened below her and let out an almost melodic string of moans and whimpers, sounds that Lexa was positive she wanted to hear an infinite amount of times in her lifetime. What she didn't realize was that half of the sounds that had just filled her ears were created by her own voice and didn't realize it until her _own_ body was stiffening under the intensity of her _own_ orgasm.  
  
It was as if the Earth suddenly stood still, along with the time around it, as every last one of Lexa's nerve endings ruptured in the most deliriously pleasurable sensation she'd ever felt in her entire life. It enveloped her, brought her up into the clouds before it crashed down on her and swept her away. They moved together desperately, still voicing their quiet cries of ecstasy as they rode out their orgasms until a thin sheen of sweat broke onto their skin and Lexa slumped heavily against Clarke's chest as they struggled to catch their breath.  
  
It wasn't until a couple of minutes had passed that Clarke began to squirm under the weight of the brunette's body, and Lexa was quick to move off to one side so as not to crush the girl underneath her. Random patterns were tickled into each other's skin as they tried to hold back the goofy smiles from spreading across their faces until Clarke cleared her throat gently to speak.  
  
“I hope this means I can start calling you my girlfriend.”  
  
She was offered nothing but a shy nod against the side of her head but smiled regardless, knowing it was more than enough for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowza. That love scene took me a full two days to write. I wanted to get the moment just perfect and believable for their first (ever) time, and I really hope it delivered. [/cut to me being nervous for reviews] This chapter, although quite stressful to write, was so much fun for me! From explaining a bit about Octavia's reasoning behind taking a break with Lincoln to Lexa Truth Machine™ Woods to that little bit of Octaven to our two favorite girls finally making it official. It was a blast.
> 
> I am planning on following this up with a 3 part sequel to continue expanding "The Days of Our Love" series, which I will hopefully be able to post after I take a short break. I need those every once in a while :) As always, thank you for reading and PLEASE let me know what you thought. Comments give me that much more inspiration to get cracking on my next story!
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy and Tumblr MsDorisDaisy)


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